We all know that small forward LeBron James is the engine of the vehicle that is the Cleveland Cavaliers, but what about his sidekick in point guard Kyrie Irving? Irving was the first overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft by the Cavaliers as he was looked at as a building block for the franchise. Irving was the 2012 NBA Rookie of the Year as he averaged 18.5 points and 5.4 assists. For his career Irving has only averaged 5.5 assists per game as he is far from being a conventional NBA point guard. Irving is a shooting guard in a point guard’s body which has gotten him into trouble at times with teammates such as former Cavs shooting guard Dion Waiters who accused him of playing “buddy ball” with power forward Tristan Thompson. Irving has been a scorer that has played off of James for the last two seasons in Cleveland, but is he a player that the Cavaliers can with an NBA Championship with?
One of the knocks on Irving has been his ability to remain healthy. In five NBA seasons, Irving has never suited up for all 82 regular season games as he has been unable to avoid the injury bug. But when Irving is on the court, he gives the Cavs a viable scoring threat.
In Game 1 of the 2015 NBA Finals, Irving suffered a fractured kneecap which hindered Cleveland’s chances in that series against the Golden State Warriors while also putting him on the shelf until late December. In Irving’s season debut on December 20, he went for 12 points in just 17 minutes of action against the Philadelphia 76ers, and by December 28, he got the Phoenix Suns for 22 points.
Overall it’s been a smooth transition for the Cavaliers to Tyronn Lue who replaced David Blatt as the team’s head coach in late January. Under Lue, the Cavaliers are 11-6 and they have a 11.5-game lead over the Indiana Pacers for first place in the Central Division while they possess a 2.5-game lead over the Toronto Raptors for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers are going to win the Central Division in their sleep, but there’s been a recent uprising by the Raptors which included them knocking off the Cleveland 99-97 last Friday night. And in that game Irving was limited to 10 points while his counterpart in Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry went off to the tune of 43 points and 9 assists.
In a seven-game playoff series, the Cavaliers should be able to get past the Raptors, but the elephant in room is their play against other elite teams in the NBA which starts with the play of Irving.
In two games this season against the Warriors, Irving was limited to just 21 points combined as he was simply outplayed by Golden State point guard Steph Curry. But that isn’t a full indictment on Irving due to the MVP-caliber season that Curry is currently having. However what the Cavs are going to need from Irving going forward is for him to take a page from James, and that is the ability to make the people around him better.
James is the Cavs best facilitator, but there tends to be too much of the other Cleveland players standing around on the court waiting for him to make something happen. And Irving could remedy some of that if he doesn’t solely look for his own shot. But can Irving do that while still being an effective scorer?
If you look at some of the NBA’s top point guards such as Curry, Lowry, Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook, Washington Wizards point guard John Wall, and Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul, they can score, but they have the ability to get their teammates involved in as well, and I am not sure that Irving can do both at this point of his NBA career.
In the three years that Irving was the Cavaliers leading scorer, the team was never close to being a playoff team, which has obviously changed with James returning to Cleveland. And this was once again on display this past Sunday when the Cavs were thoroughly dominated by the Wizards as they lost 113-99. James did not play in the game as Irving led all scorers with 28 points, but it didn’t matter as Cleveland wasn’t even close to winning.
Kyrie Irving
Irving has always been a player that focuses on scoring first, second, and third. It was evident during his brief tenure in college with the Duke Blue Devils where he only appeared in 11 games for the entire season. Irving made a cameo appearance in the NCAA Tournament where he scored 53 points in three games to solidify his status as the top pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Irving knows how to show off his scoring skills in front of a large audience which was highlighted by him being named the MVP of the 2014 NBA All-Star Game, but he will now be defined by what he is able to do in the months of May and June when the basketball world is really watching him in the postseason.
James left the Heat to re-join the Cavaliers as he felt that the grass was greener in Northern Ohio than it was on South Beach, and a big part of that was playing with Irving. But at this rate, James won’t be getting that third NBA Championship and first for Cleveland that he is seeking unless his running mate at point guard can make some adjustments to his playing style.
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