Anderson Varejao tries alley-oop pass, splashes J instead in Cavs’ win over Maccabi Tel Aviv (Video)
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ preseason-opening exhibition victory over Israeli power Maccabi Tel Aviv on Sunday featured a number of firsts that we’d all been anticipating. The first pre-game home introduction of Cleveland’s new Big Three, which saw incumbent All-Star Kyrie Irving announced first, new incoming All-Star Kevin Love announced second, and returning hero LeBron James announced last. The first preseason bucket back in wine-and-gold for James, a deep 26-foot 3-pointer set up by Dion Waiters, and the first long-bomb touchdown outlet pass as a Cav for Love, with Tristan Thompson on the receiving end for a runout flush.
The first time that new Cleveland head coach David Blatt had coached against the team he led to last season’s Euroleague championship, an experience that the former Russian national team boss said made him nervous “not because it was the first time I coached in the NBA, [but because] I was playing against my friends.” The first look at Blatt’s inaugural starting five, which featured Thompson and Waiters alongside his three stars; the first look at the fast-moving read-and-react offensive scheme that James has apparently already mastered; the first look at the work-in-progress defense that will likely stand as one of the NBA season’s most important determining factors.
But it also gave us a first that I’m pretty sure none of us were expecting — the first time Anderson Varejao threw what he thought was a lob pass, but wound up being a made 17-footer:
This is a weird thing, the kind of thing that almost never happens in an NBA game for a variety of reasons — the talent and accuracy of NBA passers, the difference in velocity and touch being put on two-hand passes and jumpers, etc. And yet, it’s not the weirdest such play we’ve seen in the recent past; allow me to remind you of Andre Miller’s way-past-the-3-point-line lob for then-Denver Nuggets teammate Kenneth Faried during a matchup with the Houston Rockets back in January of 2013:
But while Miller’s long-range banked-in triple was waved off due to offensive goaltending when Faried touched the rim before the ball went in, Varejao’s bucket actually counted for two of his six points to go with a game-high 15 rebounds. It’s not often you should get credited with an assist simply for not touching the ball or the basket, but in this case, you could argue that Thompson deserved the helper.
I think I speak for the NBA’s other 29 teams when I say: C’mon, Basketball Gods. With LeBron (12 points, four rebounds, four assists in 20 minutes), Love (eight points, 11 rebounds, four assists in 23 minutes) and Irving (16 points, five assists, two steals, no turnovers) in the mix, it’s not like the Cavs need this kind of friendly roll to go their way, too.
For more from Cleveland’s 107-80 win over Maccabi, check out the NBA’s Daily Zap:
… and if you’re looking for a more detailed LeBron/Love/Kyrie-focused package, here’s a five-minute chop-up from the great Dawk Ins:
Vine via Scott Rafferty.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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