James Harden, new faces excel in home debut in Cleveland

James HardenKeon Ellis and Dennis Schroder everything they made their home debut for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night at Rocket Arena, and all played a part in a 138-113 victory over the Washington Wizards to extend the wine and gold’s winning streak to five games heading into the NBA All-Star break. They may be new faces to the team, but the Cleveland crowd gave everyone a warm welcome.

“The crowd is always crazy,” Harden said after the game. “Every time I come here as a visitor, they’re crazy about the Cavs and The Land and they’re very loyal, and they show up every night. That’s one of the things I’ve been most excited about, so tonight was no different.”

In his Cavs home debut, Harden had a modest 13 points, 11 assists, 4 rebounds and a block in 28 minutes of action. He was upset his “carelessness” with the ball, as evidenced by six turnovers. However, the chemistry he established with the boys in the first three games he played was natural, so much so that he barely had to score.

Sam Merrill’s 32-point outburstDonovan Mitchell’s ho-hum 30-ball and Jarrett Allen’s perfect 8-of-8 performance are perfect illustrations of the weapons Cleveland possesses, Harden said, and he’s simply here for one reason.

“I hit four shots, but we win by 25 points,” Harden said. “That’s the most important thing. I’m just here to win, so whatever it looks like, if I have to go out and score a lot of points, or if I have to hit four shots and win, that’s the most important thing to me. And tonight was one of those examples.

“Other than the turnovers, I wasn’t going to go out there and force shots. First game at home, I’m excited, definitely excited, but we’re playing the right brand of basketball and the guys understand the right brand of basketball that we’re going to play consistently. It’s going to come to me. It’s going to be a night- 40 I mean what do I mean all? 35 So Don obviously made it. Who’s next.

Besides Harden, the Cavs’ first two trade deadline acquisitions also made their presence known, and they felt the energy.

“Really good, really good,” Ellis said. “Tirese (Proctor) told me that the fans — I’ve heard from others — I’ve heard that the fans here are really good. It’s a sports town. Actually, Matthew Dellavedova — he was a teammate of mine when I was in Sacramento — texted me when I got traded. He said, ‘Yeah. You’re definitely going to love sports. So yeah, it was definitely a good energy tonight, for sure.'”

“The fans were amazing,” Schroder added. “To be in this side now is amazing. I’m looking forward to it, to have a home crowd like this every home game. The first few months before the start of the season, it was quite difficult. But to have the home crowd behind you every game is something special, and we won’t take it for granted.”

Schroder and Ellis played with different combinations and lineups between members of the starting five and the bench. Both made a huge impact and, most importantly, showed the grit that Cleveland got them for.

“I played AD (Anthony Davis), with Bron (James), on the same court with Austin Reaves,” Schroder said. “The last six to seven years, I’ve just found a way to impact the game, or impact the win. Whatever the game is, that’s what I’m going to try to do. Mentally, I think we have high-character guys in this locker room, but if we step it up, especially on the defensive side of the ball, I think there’s a lot we can do here to improve.”

“At the end of the day, we’re all just going out there trying to play hard and just trying to get wins,” Ellis added. “And I mean, the way I play my role, I think it’s easy to translate. But I just go out there, just try to make winning plays, be in the right spots, and just do my job and let it all take care of itself. So I think we’re all professional. We know what to do and what not to do, and that’s why I think it’s easy for everybody.”

The Cavs closed out the unofficial first half of the season on a high note, just scratching the surface of what they might be capable of. It’s time to top up, so when everyone is back, as Schroder said, “it’s time to go.”