CLEVELAND — LeBron James was presented the key to the city by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson during a halftime ceremony, but the Cavaliers still haven’t unlocked the mystery of winning an exhibition game.
Cleveland fell to 0-4 in the preseason Thursday night, losing 91-70 to the San Antonio Spurs at Quicken Loans Arena, but no one was terribly upset.
“We’re doing some great things,” James said. “None of our big guys are really playing in the fourth quarter when it’s closing time.”
The Cavaliers looked very good at times, especially when James, who was honored for helping the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team win a gold medal in Beijing, was on the floor.
It’s just that James was on the court for just 17 minutes — he didn’t play in the second half — as Cleveland coach Mike Brown continued his practice of resting key players and giving a lot of time to guys who don’t figure to be in the rotation in the regular season.
Wally Szczerbiak didn’t dress due to what Brown called “normal training camp soreness,” while Sasha Pavlovic, who is recovered from a sprained ankle, suited up but did not play.
It didn’t help that Mo Williams (3-of-14), Daniel Gibson (2-of-10) and Delonte West (2-of-12), who returned to camp Wednesday after a 12-day absence to attend to personal matters, combined to shoot a woeful 7-of-36 from the field.
“I thought we executed pretty well,” Brown said. “We had some wide-open looks that are normally going to go down. If Mo gets those looks, nine out of 10 times they’re going to go down. If Boobie gets those looks, they’re going to go down.”
It was the Cavaliers who went down – to defeat – on an evening when the Spurs didn’t exactly play like it was the NBA Finals. Manu Ginobili (ankle), Fabricio Oberto and Bruce Bowen did not see action, while James took the rest of the night off after receiving his second key to a Northeast Ohio city in the last two weeks.
“I’ve got Cleveland and Akron now,” he joked. “I don’t know where I’m going next. Columbus – I’m headed there next.”
On the positive side for the Cavaliers, Ben Wallace was back in the starting lineup after missing the team’s last game with back spasms, while West (7 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) played 28 active but rusty minutes in his preseason debut.
“I wanted to let him sweat and run and get used to being in the game,” Brown said of West, who did not talk to the media. “I thought he did well.”
With Szczerbiak and Pavlovic out, Brown chose to start Gibson at shooting guard, but cautioned not to read anything into that decision.
“Boobie’s been great off the bench,” Brown said. “That’s more than likely where he’ll be in the regular season. It was more, ‘Why not (start him)?’”
As for the part of the game that really mattered, the Cavaliers looked extremely good in jumping to a 20-12 lead. Williams (8 points, 5 assists in 22 minutes) hit Zydrunas Ilgauskas (10 points, 6 rebounds in 22 minutes) for two quick jumpers at the outset, then threw a long pass to James (6 points, 5 assists) for a dunk.
In the second period, West threw the ball ahead to James, who caught it one-handed with his back to the basket and, without landing, flipped it back to a streaking J.J. Hickson for a dunk.
It was a rare positive moment for Hickson, who had a very tough night. During one sequence, Hickson gave up a three to journeyman Matt Bonner, had a two-handed dunk attempt swatted by high-flying Darryl Watkins, then surrendered another Bonner 3-pointer at the other end.
Bonner, who finished with 15 points, torched Cleveland for 11 points in the final period, including three 3-pointers.
“Our young bigs got a nice baptism guarding a shooting big,” Brown said.
Added James: “They’re not used to being out on the perimeter. In college, you don’t have that many guys who can space the floor and hit perimeter jumpers. It’s uncomfortable for them, but it’s something they’ve got to get used to in this league.”

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TIP-INS: James would like to see the Cavaliers become more proactive when it comes to making opponents adjust to their lineup, rather than Cleveland always reacting to who the opposition has on the floor. Part of that involves playing James at power forward – “I can take it,” he said of the contact involved – and really opening up the court. “We’re going to put a lot of speed on the floor and make teams match up,” James said. He added, “We have to make teams start to pay for what we have instead of adjusting to them.” … Ilgauskas attempted a 3-pointer from the right wing in the second period – he missed – then laughed about it with San Antonio’s Tim Duncan during the next stoppage in play. … Brown said he would increase his starters’ minutes and play them more in the second half Saturday when the Cavaliers host Philadelphia.
Noland may be reached at rickn@ohio.net or 330-721-4061.

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