Among the many uncertainties surrounding Cleveland as they put together their own ‘Big 3’ for a push at their first NBA championship in history, the main question marks surrounded Kyrie Irving.
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Understandably, LeBron James and Kevin Love were expected to come in and hit the ground running, but Irving’s season was viewed with considerable more scepticism.
Was he good enough to complement James and Love? Could he learn to share the ball and the spotlight with LeBron? Would he be able to show the leadership that was lacking from his first three seasons in the league?
Although one game hasn’t delivered a powerful riposte, his performance against San Antonio on Thursday night has more than justified his position next to his more-established team-mates.
Irving scored a career-high 57 points, including 11 in overtime, as the Cavaliers rallied for a thrilling 128-125 victory over the defending champions. Not content with scoring nine points in the final minute of regulation, including a three-pointer to knot the score at 110-110 and send the game into overtime, the 22-year-old added a further 11 points in overtime to seal the win.
It was the most points in the NBA this season, bettering his own 55 points in a win over Portland in January, and allowed the Cavaliers to snap a 10-game losing streak against the Spurs. It’s significance, in the context of Irving’s role and where the Cavs are as a team, was considerable.
“All the credit goes to my teammates,” Irving, who was 20-of-32 from the field and connected on all seven of his 3-point attempts, said. “They were doing a great job of screening me, getting me open. Our offensive execution down the stretch was huge. We got stops when we needed it. Everybody’s gearing up for playoff basketball.”
Of all the statistics accrued, perhaps the one which stoodout was it was the most points scored by a team-mate of James in his 12-year NBA career.
Crazy Stat of Day: Kyrie Irving is first player ever to score 50 points against a Gregg Popovich team. pic.twitter.com/Ca1qPuZEda
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 13, 2015
James, himself, added 31 points, five rebounds and seven assists for Cleveland, and gave his young teammate an emotional congratulatory embrace when the game concluded.
With the win, Cleveland improved to 42-25 and remain second in the Eastern Conference. Point guard Tony Parker led the Spurs with 31 points and six assists with San Antonio enduring their first March defeat since 2013.
