LeBron Steps Back to Witness New Step in Cavs' Evolution, Thanks to Kyrie Irving
SAN ANTONIO — Kyrie Irving had encountered resistance all night, but he had still repeatedly done exactly what he desired, until he had done something that no Cleveland Cavalier ever had before, and no one since Purvis Short in 1984 had done to the San Antonio Spurs.
And now, after scorching the Spurs for a franchise-record 57 points in a stirring 128-125 overtime victory, he wouldn't allow his teammates to get their way either. They wanted him to take some sort of memento of the memorable performance, one that included scoring 14 straight for Cleveland in the second quarter, hitting a buzzer-beating three in a 16-point fourth quarter, and tallying 11 in the overtime.
"You guys keep asking that," Irving shot back at those behind him, while walking from the shower to his locker room to address the media. "I don't want the game ball, I don't want the tape. None of that."
This wasn't a new attitude or aversion.
"He didn't take the video from the last one either," LeBron James said later. "Didn't want to see it."
The last one wasn't as meaningful, though, even though it also came in a win, and even though this win wouldn't have happened had Kawhi Leonard—bringing back memories of the 2013 Finals—made at least one of two free throws with 3.1 seconds left in regulation.
The last time Irving scored more than 50 was back on Jan. 28, with the Cavaliers at home against the Trail Blazers, with James cheering from the sidelines, and with Irving missing more shots than he made on his way to establishing his then-career high of 55. That was an exceptional individual performance but far less efficient than what he did Thursday.
It also was far less significant in terms of the Cavaliers' future fortunes, and not just because the atmosphere was supportive rather than hostile, or because it occurred against an opponent James respects more than any other. This time, James and Irving were out there together, with James playing 44 minutes and Irving playing 47. This time, they had to share the shots and spotlight and still make it work at the end.
And in that sense, this victory, the Cavaliers' 13th in their past 14 outings against the Western Conference, showed more than any other that James is learning to read Irving in the way he learned to read Dwyane Wade, enough to recognize when to recede some because the other guy has it rolling.
On this night, according to SportVU player tracking, James had 81 touches and 53 passes, while Irving had 90 touches and 42 passes. James was more the facilitator, while Irving was the dominator.
"I mean, he had it going all game," James said. "The finishes he had in the first half were great, but I think you start to notice it when he was making his three-ball. He was making his three-ball off pick-and-rolls, off catch-and-shoot, and he just had it going.
"When you have a guy [playing that well], you figure out a way, you find a way to get him the ball every single time down, if need be."
Irving made all seven of his three-point attempts, and all 10 of his free throws, while hitting a flurry of contested layups. In fact, according to SportVU, 30 of his 32 field-goal attempts were contested, and he made 19 of those.
"Pretty much every shot he took was a tough shot," said teammate J.R. Smith, quite familiar with rising and releasing over resistance. "You could argue you could call a foul on them."
Irving acknowledged that, "A few of those shots, they just left my hands and I just kind of threw them up at the rim. I was just lucky enough and blessed enough they were going in."
Though it wasn't all an accident.
"You just try to shoot every shot the same," Irving said. "As long as my elbow's pointed at the rim, I feel like it has a great chance to go in. I learned that from Kobe Bryant...Mainly it was just from my teammates believing in me and continuing to give me the ball."
Sustainable?
Statistically not.
Even the best shotmakers will hit the skids at times, especially when 94 percent of their attempts are contested.
Still, for a night, spectacular.
So much so that it led to a flurry of compliments, even as his coach, David Blatt, oddly deflected an opening question about Irving's offensive explosion to talk instead about the team.
"The kid is special," James said.
"I've seen a few people get hot," Smith said. "When he does it, it's a totally different stratosphere, because he can dribble with it, crossover, pull up, get to the free-throw line, get to the basket better than anybody I've seen. He's just got so much versatility to his game. It's unreal.
"He's the best finisher by far that I've ever seen. With either hand. The way he can spin it off the backboard, get by people, gather his steps. I mean, there's nothing he can't do around the rim other than take off and dunk on somebody. That's the only thing I haven't seen him do."
You've probably heard Spurs coach Gregg Popovich deadpan before, and he did again when first discussing Irving: "I thought he was pretty decent."
Then he got more serious.
"Kyrie Irving was unstoppable," Popovich said. "I don't know how to guard that. We all know how talented he is, but he really went to a new level tonight."
He needed to, on a night Popovich's Spurs elevated their play as well.
Tony Parker, hobbled for much of the season but back to his dynamic darting, spinning, floating self since the start of March, matched Irving point for point for a while, until Irving fully ignited in the fourth. Leonard, as was the case in the 2014 Finals, irritated James for long stretches, with James often taking out his frustration on the officials. Tim Duncan, with 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, dominated Kevin Love—at least when Love was out there. Blatt sat the three-time All-Star for the entire fourth quarter, playing Tristan Thompson even when the Cavaliers needed a three on the last possession.
It seemed a formality that the ball would find Irving on that possession, though the means to that end were not especially clear or smooth. Blatt said that "we drew up a play that all five guys executed well" to get Irving "a catch-and-shoot," with Irving making "a quick adjustment to create some space."
"The important thing was the clean catch above the three-point line that allowed him to lift and shoot right away or make the little juke that he did to create space," Blatt said. "He made a terrific shot. In fact, he hit two of them in the last few seconds. It doesn't happen if you don't have a good cut and a good screen that freed him up."
It probably wouldn't have happened, however, without the trust that's developed between James and Irving over the course of this season, trust enough that James—even as he had started finding his form with nine points in the fourth quarter—viewed Irving as the right guy to launch with the game on the line.
"Well, especially in a time like that, sometimes a play goes exactly as designed and sometimes you've just [got] to break it," Irving said. "And we had a great play; 'Bron said if he sees me open, he's going to hit me right in the numbers, give me a chance to make the play. And he had the confidence to give it to me."
So it went exactly as drawn up?
Or did they made the best of a breakdown?
Long pause.
"Exactly as we drew it up," Irving said, sidestepping a perceived swipe at his coach.
James put it this way: "We had some misdirection, and [Tristan Thompson's] only job was to get Kyrie open, get Kyrie open by any means necessary. Once I saw Kyrie had a little daylight...I was able to get it to him, he took one dribble, took a step back and nailed it. It was a big shot."
It was another sign of growth for a team that has had plenty of them since James returned to full health and the new acquisitions bolstered the rotation. In the process, the Cavs have taken control of the second seed in the East.
This latest victory, on the national television stage, will likely provoke much discussion and lead some to come to conclusions; for instance, Irving's 57 points were the same number that Dwyane Wade scored in the final four games combined of the 2014 NBA Finals against San Antonio.
Does that mean James was correct to leave Miami and sidle up to a younger star sidekick?
Does it ensure Irving, when it matters, will replicate all that Wade commonly provided in the postseason prior to those 2014 Finals?
It's still too early to say on either count. Even James has cautioned against reading into regular-season results, frequently reminding everyone that the playoffs are different.
Still, even while Irving hasn't had a playoff appearance, and even while his overall clutch numbers this season aren't as sterling as his sublime work against Portland and San Antonio would suggest, it's becoming impossible to ignore his tendency to turn it up in the spotlight, with the 2014 World Championships a prime example. Plus, his ability to excel in traffic should translate well to punishing playoff conditions.
"I don't think he'll have a problem with it," said Smith, who has made 51 postseason appearances. "It's just that he hasn't been on teams like we have currently, to get him to the playoffs. [Thursday] was a playoff basketball game. He handled it extremely well, obviously. So I don't think we'll have a problem."
Will Irving be ready?
"He will be," said James, who finished with 31 points, including a late clinching three-pointer. "We still have some games left. But I always say the best teacher in life is experience, and I think tonight was a great experience for all the guys that haven't been a part of huge games like this. Not in the sense that it was nationally televised, but [in the sense] of the competition.
"This is the best competition that you could find in our league, and for the guys to be able to stay composed and keep their head throughout the whole game, even when it wasn't going so well, and sometimes where it was going so well. Just to keep your mind into it. More than the physical, [it was] the mental as well. That was a big step for our team. I said we're going to have a few moments where you know we took a step forward, and tonight was one of those moments."
It was another time when the Cavaliers, down 10 late, adhered to their new motto—one introduced by assistant coach, and two-time champion, James Posey.
"Stay Wit It," Irving said.
So, no "H"?
"Stay Wit It," James said, emphasizing the T's. "Like Witness."
Thursday, the man forever associated with that word was a willing witness to the highest-scoring game in Cavaliers history, one more than James has ever scored while in Cavaliers colors.
The new franchise record-holder is a 22-year-old with a tattoo on his upper back that reads:
"The journey is the reward."
So who needs the game ball?
Ethan Skolnick covers the NBA for Bleacher Report and is a co-host of NBA Sunday Tip, 9-11 a.m. ET on SiriusXM Bleacher Report Radio. Follow him on Twitter, @EthanJSkolnick.
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