Israeli coach Blatt falls in NBA debut

CLEVELAND — LeBron James struggled from the start in his first game with Cleveland in four years, and the New York Knicks ruined the megastar’s emotional homecoming with a 95-90 victory over the Cavaliers on Thursday night.

James, who returned to the Cavs and his native Ohio this summer after winning two NBA titles in Miami, finished with 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting. He also committed eight turnovers and never looked comfortable on a night when the entire city — and a star-studded crowd — celebrated his comeback.

The game was also a first for Israeli-American coach David Blatt, though his debut was overshadowed by the massive hype surrounding the return of James.

Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points and buried a jumper with James in his face with 25 seconds left to give the Knicks a 92-87 lead.

Kyrie Irving scored 22 and Kevin Love added 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavs, who have some work to before they can start thinking about any titles.

Iman Shumpert and Jason Smith had 12 points apiece for the Knicks, who were embarrassed at home on Wednesday by Chicago.

Before the game, Blatt, who came to Cleveland after steering Maccabi Tel Aviv to a Euroleague Championship last spring, admitted he was “excited as hell,” about the game.

“I’ve been coaching for a long time and obviously this is my first NBA game and there is significance to that, but I’m going to leave that on the back-burner and focus on helping those guys be the best team they can be,” he told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Blatt’s immediate family was in Israel and unable to attend. He was asked if he had any friends coming.

“Me?” he said. “20,000. I’m a Clevelander now.”

James was greeted with a thunderous ovation before the game by Cleveland fans, who had been counting down the days until the opener since he announced his return in a touching essay on July 11.

This was more than a game for Cleveland. It was a homecoming, an event and a city-wide block party rolled into one.

The Knicks wrecked it.

New York, booed at times by the Madison Square Garden crowd a night earlier, built a seven-point lead in the third quarter and was up 86-77 on Anthony’s bucket with 3:07 remaining.

With James unable to find his shot, Irving kept Cleveland close and his jumper brought the Cavs within 88-85 with 1:43 left. But J.R. Smith hit a jump shot, and after James made a driving layup, Anthony knocked down his baseline jumper with his good friend guarding him to put away the Cavs.

James started poorly, shooting just 1 of 9 from the field in the first half. He also had a miscommunication with Irving, who broke to the basket just as James was firing him a pass and the ball flew into the first row of seats right next to film director and super Knicks fan Spike Lee.

There are bound to be growing pains as the remodeled Cavs develop chemistry, but Cleveland’s crowd seemed stunned when the Knicks were within 44-42 at halftime.

Cleveland’s best highlights came before the game.

Afraid to miss a single moment, the sold-out crowd, which included pop star Justin Bieber, Browns players Johnny Manziel and Joe Haden, and R&B artist Usher, stood as soon as James emerged from the tunnel.

As tip-off approached, a new Nike commercial in which James huddles his teammates together and the entire city joins them, was shown on the Q’s gargantuan new scoreboard. The crowd reacted throughout the poignant piece and James watched along with the crowd from the bench, nodding his head in appreciation when it ended.

He’s home, but he didn’t come back just to reunite with friends and family. James wants to win a title for this title-starved town, which hasn’t celebrated a pro sports championship since 1964.