CLEVELAND: Arguably the two best players in the NBA shared a weekly honor Monday, just as they shared a Finals stage in June. LeBron James and Steph Curry seem to be crossing paths a lot lately and did so again when they were named the East and West players of the week.
James averaged 25.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists while guiding the Cavaliers to a 2-1 mark. He shot 57 percent from the field, 60 percent from 3-point range, and 88 percent from the free-throw line.
Curry averaged 30.8 points, 6 assists and 5.5 rebounds last week for a Warriors team that has yet to lose. They can become the first team in NBA history to start 16-0 with a win Tuesday at the Los Angeles Lakers.
Besides championship rings, the Warriors are blessed with something else that has escaped the Cavs for the better part of six months now: health.
“They’ve been healthy. They’ve been the most healthy team I’ve ever seen in NBA history and they have great talent,” James said. “Those guys all play for one common goal and that’s to win and that’s all that matters.”
The Warriors’ most significant injury to this point has been to coach Steve Kerr, whose back issues have kept him off the bench since the preseason. Interim coach and former Cavs forward Luke Walton has guided the Warriors to a perfect start in his absence, but James downplayed Walton’s role.
“It would be more impressive if they were doing all this without Steph,” James said. “Then there would be a conversation to talk about.”
The Cavs entered Monday’s home game against the Orlando Magic with the East’s best record at 10-3 despite battling a plethora of injuries. They’re without their starting backcourt and starting center. Backup point guard Mo Williams missed his second game with inflammation in his ankle Monday and even third-string point guard Matthew Dellavedova has fought nagging leg injuries dating back to the preseason and his time last summer with the Australian national team.
“I’d much rather be on the other side and having guys in the lineup, having guys healthy,” James said. “I’ve always heard that saying, ‘Is it a blessing that guys are out and guys can step in?’ I think it’s good for some of the guys that don’t get to play as much — they get an opportunity. But at the same time, I’d much rather be full and know what we’re going to have and play at a high level for most of the year so we know what we can fall back on at the end of the season.”
Budenholzer fined
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was fined $25,000 for what the league deemed incidental contact with referee Ben Taylor during Saturday’s game against the Cavs. The National Basketball Referees Association fired back in a stinging statement that Budenholzer should be suspended.
“Referees operate in an environment in which an influential NBA team owner has repeatedly mocked the efficacy of fines as means to change bad behavior,” NBRA General Counsel Lee Seham said in a release. “Recent league precedent dictated that a coach who aggressively charged onto the floor during live action and physically interfered with a referee would be suspended. We are now operating at a lower level with less transparency, degraded safety, and diminished respect for the game. Coaches should compete by creating better teams, not by physically intimidating officials.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.