James and Cavs spoil Irving's return in win over Celtics in NBA's season opener, 102-99

The Cleveland Cavaliers ruined Kyrie Irving's return to the Quicken Loans Arena Tuesday night, beating the Boston Celtics 102-99 in the NBA's season opener.

The Cavaliers used a 7-1 run to close out the game, ending a would-be Celtics comeback to start the season, 1-0. It really couldn’t have been scripted any better than this. Irving had a chance to send the game into overtime with a 3-pointer, he missed, and then James gave him a hug right after the buzzer sounded.

It was a emotional roller coaster all evening. As expected, the Cleveland faithful greeted former Cav Kyrie Irving with boos, but it was really tough to watch when newly acquired Celtics small forward Gordon Hayward, who played just five minutes, suffered a gruesome fractured left ankle. Hayward, who signed a four-year, $128 million contract in the summer and joined his former college coach Brad Stevens in Boston, had two points before the injury.

Cavs' players couldn't watch. They turned away from where the medical personnel attended to Hayward under the basket. The Celtics' players huddled together for their teammate. The emotion was disbelief, there was a sense of concerned silence at the Q.

Following the completion of the first quarter, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that Lebron James and Isaiah Thomas both visited Hayward while he was still in the Cavaliers' locker room.

All of us hope for a speedy and full recovery for Gordon Hayward.

LeBron James kept his streak alive and did not miss his 15th season opener, despite concerns about his sprained ankle. James was magnificent in his return to the court, finishing with game highs in points (29) and rebounds (16) to go with nine assists. The new-look Cavs, with seven new players, started a lineup of James, Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, Jae Crowder and Dwayne Wade Tuesday night against the Boston Celtics.

Following the Hayward injury, Cleveland went on a 23-9 run. At halftime, the Cavaliers led the Celtics, 54-38. The Cavs tried a variety of lineups, but struggled in the third quarter. They led by 18 at one point in the third quarter, but due to scoring just 18 points, on 32% from the field in the third, they ended the third up just two points,thanks to a Rose buzzer-beater.

They managed to play most of the fourth trailing by less than five. As the clock ticked down, James took over and found Kevin Love for a 3-pointer with 46.3 seconds left that proved to be the difference in a game that Cleveland once led by as many as 18 points.

Kevin Love finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while the newly acquired stars contributed to the Cavs winning their season opener. Derrick Rose looked explosive and made some beautiful transition baskets. He finished with 14 points. Jae Crowder contributed 11 points. Former superstar Dwayne Wade showed us some of his flashy moves, but struggled with only eight points on 3-of-10 shooting and four turnovers.

Irving was effective in his Celtics' regular-season debut, putting up 22 points with 10 assists and four rebounds. He was second on the team in scoring behind Jaylen Brown, who scored 25 points. Rookie Jayson Tatum was impressive in his NBA debut, putting up 14 points and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes. Marcus Smart, in Hayward’s absence, might be the man to step up. He put up a nice line of 12 points, nine rebounds, and three assists en route to several game-changing plays.

COMING UP NEXT FOR THE CAVS: The Cavaliers (1-0) will head to Milwaukee to face the Bucks this Friday.