Kyrie Irving Scores 55 vs. Blazers: Highlights and Twitter Reaction

All season long, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been a rudderless ship without LeBron James. On Wednesday, Kyrie Irving proved himself capable of taking the captaincy reins for at least one night.

Irving splashed a franchise-record-setting 11th three-pointer with six seconds remaining and scored a career-high 55 points to lead Cleveland to a 99-94 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers were playing without James, whom they announced would be out with an injured wrist, for the ninth time this season.

The first eight James-less contests saw Cleveland go 1-7, with Irving and Kevin Love proving to some that they were incapable of leading a playoff outfit. While that still may be the case over the long haul, Irving pulled out all the stops as he and Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge traded heavyweight blows.

James had high praise for Irving's game when all was said and done, per Bleacher Report's Uninterrupted:

Irving shot 17-of-36 from the field, including an insane 11-of-19 mark from beyond the arc. He went to the line 10 times and connected on each attempt, barreling his way into the paint and at times acting like the Cavaliers' lone source of offensive production. Love went 3-of-15 en route to scoring a disappointing 10 points as no other Cleveland starter managed to make half his baskets.

Irving, on the other hand, was cooking all game long. He split the 55 points as close to even between the two halves as possible, scoring 28 before the break and 27 afterward. After starting out making three of his first 11 shots in the first quarter, Irving sprang to live in a perfect second period that included a 4-of-4 mark from beyond the arc.

Arguably his most impressive feat, though, came in the fourth. Irving accounted for 16 of the Cavaliers' 20 points in the final 12 minutes, single-handedly keeping them in the game against an NBA Finals contender. Other Cleveland players combined to shoot 1-of-9 in the quarter.

The win was Cleveland's eighth straight, four of which have come against playoff contenders. Irving has been on a particularly impressive run during this stretch, scoring 37 or more points three times during the winning streak. ESPN Stats & Info noted James and Irving are the only two players to record back-to-back games of 35 or more points:

Wednesday was Irving's sixth game of the season with 35-plus points, second behind only Houston's James Harden, per Basketball-Reference. Harden, Irving and James are the only three players with at least five such contests.

Given the Cavaliers' frustrating first half of 2014-15, Irving's game-winning dagger was by far the most meaningful bucket of his evening. The Cavaliers are 27-20 after the win, keeping them firmly placed as the Eastern Conference's No. 5 seed and continuing their run at home-court advantage for at least the first round.

Atlanta appears to be running away with the No. 1 seed, but No. 2 Toronto is only 4.5 games ahead of the Cavs—not much with 35 games remaining.

That's what makes Irving's performance all the more important. Not only was it a spectacular individual feat, but it furthers the momentum Cleveland's been building since James' return and sets up a far more relaxing All-Star break than anyone could have expected a few weeks ago.

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