Cleveland
James scored 19 points and added 11 rebounds and 14 assists in front of a raucous home crowd that was on its feet from the pregame ceremony until late in the game, celebrating the city’s first championship in 52 years.
James, who spoke to the crowd before the game, continued his perfect record on ring nights. He was 2-0 when the Miami Heat players were presented with their championship rings.
Irving scored 19 points in the third quarter, when Cleveland used a 20-4 run to take a 74-53 lead. Kevin Love scored 23 for the Cavaliers.
Carmelo Anthony led New York with 19 points and Derrick Rose had 17.
Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert was taken to the locker room late in the third quarter with concussion-like symptoms after colliding with Kristaps Porzingis.
Cleveland’s players, coaching staff and front office personnel also received their championship rings in the pregame ceremony.
The basketball game was only part of a big night in town. The Cleveland Indians played Game 1 of the World Series against the Chicago Cubs across the street at Progressive Field.
The Knicks, who missed the playoffs the last three seasons, are expecting major improvement after acquiring Rose from Chicago to run the offense and signing center Joakim Noah, who was scoreless in 21 minutes.
New York, playing its first game under new coach Jeff Hornacek, trailed by 13 in the second quarter but rallied to cut the lead to 45-43 at halftime. A pair of dunks by James and 3-pointers from Irving and Love pushed the lead to 61-49.
Cleveland’s spurt continued as Irving hit three 3-pointers for a 74-53 lead.
Porzingis scored 16 points for New York.
Seattle
In a letter to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, the City Council and King County Executive Dow Constantine, Hansen’s group is now offering to rip up a memorandum of understanding from 2012 that called for up to $200 million in public investment in the arena.
Instead, Hansen’s group will pay for the project privately. Additionally, the group is offering to contribute to a transportation project near the proposed arena that would help deal with freight traffic at the Port of Seattle, a sticking point in past efforts.
“We have concluded that a changed economic climate makes possible the private financing of the arena,” the letter reads. “For that reason, and to address concerns expressed by city council members, we would consider revising the street vacation petition to eliminate public financing of the arena. In such a case the MOU would be terminated and the rights and obligations of the parties under the MOU would end.”
The decision comes 5½ months after the city of Seattle turned down Hansen’s request to block off a street needed for construction of the arena, which could have led to the issuance of a master use permit, meaning construction of the arena could have started once an NBA team had been acquired.
The termination of the MOU provides Hansen’s group with flexibility — should the city agree to its requests, which still include blocking off the street. Hansen already owns the land for the arena and could proceed with construction even without a team. It also opens up the NHL as an immediate possibility as the MOU was tied to the acquisition of an NBA team as a condition of construction.
As of now, Hansen’s group — which includes members of the Nordstrom family and former Seattle SuperSonics president and minority owner Wally Walker — has not taken on additional investors. The original proposal in 2012 said the total project would cost $490 million.