Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 takeaways from 2017-18 season opener

The Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers kicked off the season in epic fashion Tuesday night. Here are the three takeaways from the Cavs’ 2017-18 season opener.

In a season opener where Kyrie Irving‘s return to his old stomping grounds was overshadowed by Gordon Hayward‘s gruesome ankle injury, the Cleveland Cavaliers managed to pull out a 102-99 victory against the Boston Celtics Tuesday night.

This came after squandering an 18-point lead against their Eastern Conference foes.

LeBron James scored a game-high 29 points — 13 coming in the fourth quarter — in 41 minutes. Kevin Love added 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Derrick Rose added 14 points (albeit on 14 shots). Jaylen Brown led the way for Boston with 25 points, while Kyrie Irving added 22 points and 10 assists in his first game back at Quicken Loans Arena.

In addition to pulling down 16 rebounds, LeBron dished out one of his nine assists to Love, who knocked down a 3-pointer on a crosscourt pass with less than 50 seconds to go to put the Cavaliers up by four points late in regulation.

Irving, who spent his first six seasons in Cleveland, had a chance to send the game into overtime with a 3-point shot at the buzzer. Although it fell short for the man who hit arguably the most iconic shot in franchise history, he shared a special moment with James and his former Cavaliers teammates shortly after the outing.

So what stood out the most in game one for Cleveland? Here are the three major takeaways from the Cavs’ performance on opening night.