LeBron praises new Cavs: It's like they've been here all along
LeBron James likes what he sees from his revamped squad.
The Cleveland Cavaliers superstar raved about the club's trade deadline acquisitions - George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance Jr. - saying, "it's almost like the new guys have been here" all season.
"It started with George and his on-the-ball pressure and him just running the team," James said after Sunday's 121-99 shellacking of the Boston Celtics, as quoted by ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
"And then the three guys came off the bench. Jordan was - he's ready to score at any time but his composure was great. Rodney plays with so much poise and Larry was just controlling the perimeter, setting great pick-and-rolls. Got him a lob, got him a dunk, so it was a good start for the new guys, a good start for all of us with our revamped team so far."
Acquired hours ahead of Thursday's trade deadline, the quartet combined for 49 points in their Cavs debuts and helped the 29th-ranked defense hold the Celtics to 40.4 percent shooting from the field and 26.3 percent from 3-point territory.
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Hood described playing with James as "fun" and said the four-time MVP makes the game easy for his teammates.
"I know I demand a lot of excellence out of my teammates, but I demand out of myself, too," said James, who recorded 24 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds in 28 minutes at TD Garden.
"And (when) we (are) on the road, we want to try and play as well as we can, and we want to try to put ourselves in contention to try to compete for another championship, and that's my mindset."
The 33-year-old, who can hit unrestricted free agency this summer, added it's his job as the team's leader to get his new teammates acclimated to the culture and practicing championship habits as Cleveland aims to make a fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals.
After struggling for much of the campaign - especially over the past month and a half - that goal felt attainable for perhaps the first time during Sunday's performance.