by Bill Nichols

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Cleveland and Buffalo, two of the National Basketball Association's babies, held a coming-out party last night and for the Cavaliers, at least, it turned out like warm pop -- very hard to digest.

    Buffalo, considered by many  to have the best of the NBA's three expansion teams, bounced the Cavaliers, 107-92, before 7,129 partisans in Memorial Auditorium.

    The Cavaliers made a contest of it momentarily in the early gong, tying the count four times before Buffalo went ahead for good, 12-10, on a turnaround jumper by center Nate Bowman.

    IT WAS ALL  Buffalo from there on.  Cleveland was unable to penetrate the Braves' full court press or stop the outside shooting of Donnie May, former University of Dayton All-America and sub with the New York Knicks.

    May, playing 35 minutes, pumped in a game high 24 points on 10 of 14 from the field and four of five from the foul line.

    May, who injured his left hand during a practice on Monday, was elated with his best scoring effort in his three year pro career.

    "Even when I got in a Knicks game I didn't shoot well,"  recalled May.  "Now I'm getting a chance to prove to myself that I can shoot."

    "Donnie has a nose for the basket, " chipped in his coach, Dolph Schayes.

    CLEVELAND COACH Bill Fitch said, "We had a lot to do with them beating us.  We passed poorly, rebounded poorly and our floor moves were poor, but this may be our worst performance for some time to come.
 
    "A game like this tells me why show people take their shows on the road before coming home.
    "People may think I'm crazy after seeing how bad we were, but I really believe that before we finish our 12 games with Buffalo we'll be playing them even,"  added Fitch.

    Buffalo guard Dick Garrett and Herm Gilliam forced Cleveland into 14 first half turnovers and 26 in all with their relentless full court press, causing Fitch to remark, "Buffalo could have the fastest guards in the league."

    When the situation dictated for more pressure, Buffalo forwards Fred Crawford or May aided in the all-out harassment.

    Garrett scored 20 points, and his 10 points in the first half led the Braves to a 56-42 advantage at intermission.

    THE CAVS MADE a belated effort in the fourth quarter on the shooting of Bobby Smith, who had a team high of 21 points, and rookie guard Joe Cooke.

    Cooke, who joined the club on Tuesday after a tryout with the Indiana Pacers, was impressive with his quickness.  He also scored nine points in seven minutes of action.

    "We'll be using Cooke more as we go along," predicted Fitch, "but I hope it isn't when we're down by 20."
    "We have to get some speed in there and Cooke should help provide some of it."

    Buffalo, which had things pretty much its own way, did have a minor problem, centered around the left shoe of guard Emmette Bryant.  The shoe came off three times and on the last occasion he decided to play on one shoe.

    "That's our lose your shoe play,"  quipped Buffalo coach Dolph Schayes.
    "Seriously, I thought Crawford picked us up in the second half and Bowman was great on the boards in the third quarter.   He was taking everything off but the paint."

    Bowman and Cleveland's Luther Rackley, who started at center, each had 10 rebounds, while the Braves had a team edge in this department, 51-50.

    BUFFALO OUTSHOT Cleveland.  The Braves hit on 41 of 84 from the floor while Cleveland made 31 of 79.  The Cavaliers, however, also missed 13 free throws, 11 in the first half.

    It's now one down and 81 to go for the Cavaliers.  Improvement could come as early as tomorrow night when Cleveland helps another expansion team, Portland, open its season on the second leg of a seven-game trip before its debut at the Arena Oct. 28 against San Diego.