LeBron James walked off the court in frustration at bad passes and silly turnovers on Saturday — and that was with Cleveland leading by a game-high 26 points in an NBA romp over Atlanta.
The superstar playmaker had 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, while Kevin Love had 25 points and 11 rebounds to spark the Cavaliers, who boosted the best record in the Eastern Conference to 10-3.
However, the most memorable moment in the rout came when James watched Jared Cunningham throw a bad pass out of bounds, then abruptly signaled to be replaced by a substitute and stormed off the court for a seat on the bench.
The Cavaliers did not have enough time to get a replacement into the game and were whistled for a technical foul for only having four players on the court.
“I blew a gasket,” said James, who apologized to his teammates after the game.
“He was frustrated, knew we weren’t playing right,” Cavaliers coach Dave Blatt said. “I understand his frustration, but obviously you shouldn’t do that.”
Blatt said he did not like first-half shot selection and lamented bad passes, turnovers and defensive breakdowns in the second half.
“It was kind of disjointed in terms of how well we played at some moments and then how helter-skelter and off-keel we played at other moments,” Blatt said. “That’s not what we should be. We know better than that, let’s put it that way.”
The Cavaliers were down to a pair of healthy regular starters with Russian center Timofey Mozgov sidelined by a right shoulder strain, while star Kyrie Irving and his backcourt injury replacement, Mo Williams, were both absent.
Trisan Thompson grabbed 16 rebounds and matched a career high with five assists for the Cavaliers, who stayed unbeaten after seven home games.
Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap each had 14 points the for Hawks, who fell to 9-6.
The winless Philadelphia 76ers led late in the fourth quarter at Miami and appeared set for their first victory of the season, but the Heat rallied for a 96-91 triumph, dropping the Sixers to 0-14.
Dwyane Wade scored a season-high 27 points for the Heat, while Isaiah Canaan scored 22 for Miami.
Philadelphia have lost 24 games in a row dating to last season, the 76ers most recent victory on March 25 in Denver, Colorado.
In other games, it was:
‧ Spurs 92, Grizzlies 82
‧ Knicks 107, Rockets102.
‧ Kings 97, Magic 91
‧ Wizards 97, Pistons 95
‧ Pacers 123, Bucks 86
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