Rick Gethin contributor for CSNChicago.com: With the Halloween matchup just around the corner, tonight’s game between the Bulls and Cavaliers was the first shot fired in what is considered to be a two-horse race for the Eastern Conference. Although it’s only preseason, it was treated as a regular season contest and the victors will take this as a momentum builder moving forward. On the second night of a back-to-back, it was apparent the Bulls were lagging at times. They started slow and trailed Cleveland much of the night. But there’s one thing about Tom Thibodeau’s team that stood out in Columbus, Ohio, and that was a never-say-quit attitude. As Cleveland’s starters played the majority of the game, Thibodeau elected to spread his minutes along the bench. Derrick Rose played some good minutes and led all players with 30 points. LeBron James said he wasn't surprised how quick Rose looked.

Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: There are some theatrics coming between LeBron James and David Blatt. Just ask James. He said he expects some tribulations along with the way with his coach. James said he went through obstacles with Mike Brown and later with Erik Spoelstra. The same thing is probably going to happen with Blatt. “Every day it’s a learning process,” James said. “You have to go through something in order to create a bond — for the worse. We have to lose a ball game we should have won. We have to get in an argument, just to test each other out. I know it’s going to happen. That’s the only way we’re going to grow. You don’t define yourself during the good times. It’s the bad times.”

Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: From 2008 through their championship season and on into 2012, the Mavericks had one starting point guard. It was Jason Kidd’s show. Since then, they’ve had three new starters at the point in three seasons. It’ll be Jameer Nelson when the regular season begins next week. He’s following Jose Calderon and Darren Collison as the opening-day starters the previous two seasons. Nelson, by the way, has a thought about the yearly turnover. “There won’t be another one after that for awhile,” Nelson said. “The plan is for there not to be another one for several years with me, Devin [Harris] and Raymond [Felton]. It’s good to be alongside those guys.” Nelson emits a quiet confidence that has already made a big impact in the locker room. He’s coach Rick Carlisle’s kind of player. Not as physically gifted as Kidd was, but clearly the kind of smart player who can guide a team in similar fashion to the way Kidd did. And Carlisle would like nothing more than if Nelson became a long-term fixture at the point.

Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: It’s still happening. The Hawks are going lengthy stretches where they are unable to score or stop the opposition. At times the Hawks are running near perfection – like when they went on a 20-0 run between the first and second quarters to take a 40-24 lead. Yet less than 12 minutes later, the 16-point lead was gone and the Hornets were right back in the game. “We are playing well in stretches and we are playing beneath our standards for significant stretches,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “All of us, we have to get better." ... The inability to play a complete game was an issue last season. It is easy to shake the inconsistency off during the preseason, but the Hawks will have things to fix moving into the regular season.

Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: Hornets rookie P.J. Hairston said he’s considering changing agent representation. One possibility: Former UNC Greensboro player Rodney Blackstock. Hairston originally retained Juan Morrow who, it turned out, was not certified as an agent by the players union.

Nakia Hogan of The Times-Picayune: When New Orleans Pelicans All-Star forward Anthony Davis walked to the bench 37 seconds into the third quarter to get his right wrist checked out, there likely was a collective "Here we go again" sigh from the Pelicans' fan base. But it was only a scare. Although Davis was officially diagnosed with a sprained right wrist, he downplayed the injury after the Pelicans' 88-84 victory Monday night against the Washington Wizards at Royal Farms Arena. "It's all good," Davis said. "I went up for a lob and came down on it. I'm fine," Davis said. Davis said he injured his wrist while attempting to catch an alley-hoop pass and landed awkwardly on his hand. Davis said if it had been a regular season game he would have played on after getting the wrist taped by trainers.

Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post: Forty-two years after the Rockets cut James Silas, a 26-year-old Xavier Silas is competing for the 15th and final spot on the Washington Wizards’ roster. He is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard willing to run with a smooth shooting stroke — the precise combination the Wizards seek after a slew of injuries has sidelined a trio of three-point threats on the wing. ... Silas didn’t play in the Wizards’ first two preseason games but compensated in his debut with 16 points. He was averaging 13 points on 32.4 percent shooting from the floor in three games before scoring two points in 10 minutes in Monday night’s exhibition against the New Orleans Pelicans. Injuries to Bradley Beal (wrist), Martell Webster (back), and Glen Rice Jr. (ankle) have left the door open for Silas to break in like his father did four decades ago. “He’s a fighter,” James Silas said. “He’s going to keep fighting. I’m proud of him.”

Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee: Kings coach Michael Malone knows how he wants to start games when the regular season begins Oct. 29. The lineup isn’t unexpected, as it’s the same group that started the first exhibition game. Darren Collison and Ben McLemore will start at guard, Rudy Gay and Jason Thompson at forward and DeMarcus Cousins at center. That was the starting lineup for Monday’s 106-99 exhibition loss to the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center. ... There’s also the matter of sorting out the rotation off the bench. Malone likes Ramon Sessions as a replacement for Collison or complement to him. Stauskas, Reggie Evans, Omri Casspi, Derrick Williams and Carl Landry figure to play key roles as reserves to start the season.

Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News: The availability of starters Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter for next week’s season opener remains in question as they continue to recover from their respective maladies. Splitter has yet to play in the preseason after straining his right calf early in training camp. He has been spotted doing rehab work but Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he “probably” will miss Wednesday’s home game against Atlanta. “I don’t know when he’s going to be ready,” Popovich said. “Hopefully by the time the season starts.” Leonard appeared in the exhibition opener against Alba Berlin, but has been out since picking up a viral eye infection almost two weeks ago. Leonard continues to be held away from the team after the infection switched from one eye to the other. “He had a really strong strain of whatever virus it is,” Popovich said. “He’s still out and they’re going to re-evaluate on Thursday.”

Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: O.J. Mayo, who signed a three-year, $24 million deal with the Bucks in the summer of 2013, said he is energized by playing under Kidd and will take whatever role the coach gives him. "He definitely was one of the greatest players ever to play the game, and his game was all about trusting the pass and leading by example," Mayo said. "When you have him as your head coach, why not try what he's preaching?" ... Suddenly the Bucks bench group is looking much improved with Mayo, Dudley, John Henson and Kendall Marshall poised to play major roles. Henson and Marshall started against the Knicks with center Larry Sanders and point guard Brandon Knight sidelined by injuries. Mayo was an iron-man starter in his first two years in the NBA, when he played for the Memphis Grizzlies. Then he adjusted to a sixth-man role the next two years in Memphis. "I don't even care, man," Mayo said of starting or coming off the bench.

Scott Cacciola of The New York Times: Derek Fisher has yet to coach a regular-season game for the Knicks, but he can sense a distinct advantage to his new occupation. “My body feels great, that’s for sure,” said Fisher, who, as an NBA point guard for 18 seasons, absorbed his share of contact. “Maybe not as much sleep, but my body feels absolutely wonderful.” Fisher patrolled the small parcel of property in front of the home bench at Madison Square Garden on Monday when the Knicks fell to the Milwaukee Bucks, 120-107, in a preseason game. Fisher was opposed by none other than Jason Kidd, late of Brooklyn, and perhaps there was a bit of symbolism — if not exactly symmetry — as two former point guards went about the business of coaching their new teams. For Fisher, it is all still brand new. For the first time, he is responsible for shuffling lineups and seeking chemistry and managing minutes as the Knicks build toward their opener against the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 29. On Monday, the job meant experimenting with Amar’e Stoudemire at the center position. It also meant coping with the unexpected absence of Jose Calderon, who strained his right calf in the first quarter and did not return.

Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News: The Nets have tried to be diplomatic about their preseason trip to China, but the aftermath has made it hard to justify it as something other than a nuisance. There have been widespread complaints about jet lag and exhaustion after spending eight days last week in a time zone that was 12 hours different. There also is a stomach virus apparently brought over from China, affecting Kevin Garnett to the point that he missed his third straight game Monday at the Barclays Center and “probably” won’t travel to Boston for the preseason finale Wednesday, according to Nets coach Lionel Hollins. “We’re still trying to get China out of us,” Deron Williams said after Monday’s 99-88 victory over the Sixers. I don’t want to get into his personal bathroom habits,” said Nets coach Lionel Hollins, who missed the first game in China last week against the Kings with an illness. “But he’s been sick — sick enough to the point where he’s not playing."

Tom Moore of The Intelligencer: The 76ers had hoped that Nerlens Noel would've worked off most of the rust from sitting out his rookie year while rehabilitating a torn ACL by the Oct. 29 start of the regular season. Prior to Monday night's 99-88 preseason loss to the Nets at the Barclays Center, Sixers coach Brett Brown admitted it's not turning out that way. The slender big man appeared in five of a possible 11 summer league games and has played in just three of seven exhibition contests. He missed his third straight game with an upper respiratory infection and was sidelined by a quad strain Oct. 10 in Minnesota. “The plan was to really maximize summer leagues and have a great preseason and move quickly into the regular season,” Brown said. “That has taken a hit. It's all good, but it hasn't gone to plan. It's a minor setback. We'll just move him on at, I hope, an intelligent pace.” Brown said Noel, who hasn't played since an Oct. 14 defeat to the Knicks, might have suited up if it were the regular season, but he would prefer for Noel to practice before getting on the court.