Cleveland Cavaliers Can Thrive with Kyrie Irving as Scoring Point Guard
The Cleveland Cavaliers extended their winning streak to five games with a 90-87 victory over the struggling New York Knicks on Thursday night, and they did it with a little help from a 22-year-old point guard doing what he does best.
Kyrie Irving led all scorers with a season-high 37 points that would seemingly justify his lowly two assists. With LeBron James tallying 12 assists along with his 19 points against the Knicks, Irving could afford to look for his own shot a bit more aggressively. And James was happy to comply.
So far, Irving's shoot-first exploits haven't been such a bad thing for the Cavaliers. They're now 6-1 when Irving scores at least 23 points this season.
Coming off a 28-point outing in a 111-108 win against the Milwaukee Bucks, it appears the Duke product may be finding his groove at a time when Cleveland's offense is still searching for an identity. After attempting 15 shots against the Bucks, Irving insisted he was letting the game come to him and finding a comfort zone within the team's system under new head coach David Blatt.
"Whether that's taking no shots, or taking as many shots as I took tonight, whatever is needed to win, I'm willing to do," he told reporters after Tuesday's game. "I trust my teammates 100 percent, and whatever's needed game to game I'm going to do."
Irving may not be looking to take games over, but nor is he shy.
"He's very patient and I think he has a lot of confidence, not only in himself, but there are guys around him that can help him, so he doesn't have to press," James added of Irving. "And that's very key."
One of the more encouraging signs has been the way in which Irving is pursuing his offense. Over his last two games, he's made a combined 18-of-21 free-throw attempts. While his three-point game has been lethal as ever this season (with a success rate over 42 percent), his aggressiveness and ability to get to the basket have been vital.
The fourth-year veteran's proactive approach has been particularly timely in light of Kevin Love's uneven output at the power-forward spot. Though Love scored a combined 55 points in the two game's prior to Thursday night's action, he tallied just 11 points against New York—already the seventh time this season he's tallied no more than 14 points.
Love told reporters last month after scoring just 10 points against the San Antonio Spurs that it takes time to settle into his new role:
"It's come to a point where I'm just trying to find myself in this offense. It's almost related to when you come into the league. Usually the guys that dominate the ball so much tend to learn a lot quicker than a guy like myself, a big man. So I'm just trying to find different spots in the offense.
I'll just say we're 10 games in, we're looking at different stuff. I need to find myself. I think everybody knew coming in that we'd have to sacrifice, but at some point we're going to need some low-post scoring and some outside shooting.
"
The former Minnesota Timberwolves star has shown signs of rhythm, but it may be some time before he carries a heavy scoring load on a nightly basis.
Until then, Irving should be able to pick up some of the slack—especially with James handling point-forward duties so effortlessly. For the season, Irving is averaging a career-low 4.7 assists per game. It's a trend that's spurred some criticism, particularly amidst something of a drought in early November.
But it remains to be seen whether Irving really needs to create for others when James has taken so quickly to handling the ball and making plays for his new teammates.
Through 17 appearances, the four-time MVP is averaging 7.6 assists per contest. He's tallied double-figure dimes in four of his last six outings, often doing so without an appreciable impact on his scoring (e.g. dropping 29 points and 11 assists in a 106-74 win over the Orlando Magic).
Irving may have the point-guard body, but he has more of a shooting guard's disposition. James is without question the better floor general to initiate offense. He has the size to see over defenders and the IQ to make good decisions. Cavs fans will remember that he tallied as many as 8.6 assists per contest back in 2009-10.
It's too soon to determine whether Cleveland has figured out the right balance on the offensive end. Putting up 90 points against the Knicks isn't exactly a statement, not when Carmelo Anthony had an opportunity to tie the game with a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Nor should we be 100 percent satisfied with the player Irving has become. He isn't, either. The scoring may be instinctive at this point, but his defense remains a work in progress, as Irving recently told reporters:
"It's just all about effort. My first three years, it was just making excuses of offensive burden and all this other stuff. And at the end of the day, I just have to do it for the greater good of our team.
In order for our team to win, I have to be that kind of guy on the defensive end. You can only talk about it so long. At one point it just has to be done.
"
The two-way focus may be indicative of some much-needed maturation. Even if Irving isn't this team's distributor-in-chief, he realizes he can impact the game in other ways:
"I just try to stay in front of the ball as much as possible so it's not as much pressure for other guys to help me. I'd rather help other guys and be in position to help and stop my guy instead of the other way around and always being 'that guy' on film.
I was on film a lot the last three years [laughing]. You get tired of it after a while, so you want to be that guy that your teammates trust on a day-in, day-out basis.
"
That trust may still be evolving, but the Cavaliers already have plenty of faith in Irving's scoring credentials.
Love will come along. James will do it all. Irving just needs to keep doing what comes most naturally.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
