Ranking the Cleveland Cavaliers' Top 5 Performances of the Regular Season

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ season embodied some of the best individual displays in the NBA. It included the ups as well as the downs.

Coach David Blatt’s ability as a leader constantly has come into question—including what some speculate as the lack of support from the greatest player in the world, LeBron James—even still to this day.

The loss of Anderson Varejao was gut-wrenching, and now the Cavs must deal with the absence of forward Kevin Love after suffering a dislocated shoulder in the first round of the playoffs. 

But through it all, the Cavs find themselves four wins away from a place all too familiar to LeBron: the NBA Finals. 

Therefore, we must reflect on what has propelled them to this place. Despite their blows, they have thrived. And though Cleveland portrays the “all-in” mantra, its success couldn’t have come without great individual play during the 2014-15 season.

So we decided to use a ranking system to take a deeper look at some of those moments.

It is simple. First, we incorporated a list of the honorable mention candidates from the Cavs’ season. This included rankings and a description of the players who played a big game for Cleveland but were not quite good enough to crack the top five. 

Lastly, the Cleveland Cavaliers' top five Performances of the regular season follows the individual moments that make us reminisce on this past season from last to first.

Feel free to comment and let us know who you think should have been in or out—or the player who you think should have taken the top spot. 

Honorable Mention Candidates

Associated Press

J.R. Smith Letting It Fly

Date/Opponent: January 13, 2015 vs. Phoenix Suns

Smith can sometimes be a headache, but he has never looked happier playing alongside LeBron James in Cleveland. 

James felt like he could help guide Smith and has been one of his biggest supporters. So far, it has worked. 

In Smith’s third game with the Cavs against Phoenix, he put on an offensive show, scoring 29 points on 8-of-14 shooting from three. He finished the game at 53 percent from the field, and though it came in a 107-100 loss, it gave Smith the confidence and green light to be the catch-and-shoot player he has always desired to be. 

Kyrie Irving Dazzling in The Big Apple

Date/Opponent: December 4, 2014 vs. New York Knicks

There's no place brighter than Madison Square Garden, and Irving decided to shine the brightest with a 37-point game.

He went 12-of-18 from the field and hit a last-second floater over Amar’e Stoudemire to seal the deal for the Cavs—ruining the psyche of every Knicks fan. Cleveland won 90-87. 

LeBron in Canada

Date/Opponent: December 9, 2014 vs. Toronto Raptors

LeBron James’ 35-point game didn’t come easy against a Toronto team that was on a roll. Through their first 19 games, the Raptors only suffered four losses—owning the best record in the Eastern Conference at that time.

After Cleveland gave up 63 first-half points, LeBron carried his team to the finish. With 48 seconds left he hit a tie-breaking three to cap off the 105-101 win, ultimately giving Toronto just its fifth loss on the season.  

5. Kevin Love in His Zone

Date/Opponent: February 8, 2015 vs. Los Angeles Lakers 

We always knew that Kevin Love could score the basketball. 

In the Cavs’ February matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers, Love went for 32 points and 10 rebounds in a convincing 120-105 win—an impressive stat line. But it came against the Kobe-less Lakers and a team that finished second to last within the Western Conference. 

Yes, Love was 11-of-18 from the field and 7-of-8 from deep. But as Grantland’s Kirk Goldsberry details, Love has turned into one of the most overqualified spot-up shooters in the NBA this season.  

Only three of his buckets came within the painted area that day—a place where Love used to abuse his defenders—and just one was a mid-range baseline jumper. 

Still, this was one of the few times Cleveland players were looking for Love to score on their trips down the floor with him fully engaged and aggressive.

His perimeter shooting and presence in the paint were why the Cavs acquired him in the first place.

Nonetheless, the jury is still out on how much he really means to the Cavs—considering they just advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals in his absence. 

4. The Workhorse, Tristan Thompson

Date/Opponent: January 16, 2015 vs. Los Angeles Clippers 

Tristan Thompson has been a spark plug for the Cleveland Cavaliers off the bench for the 2014-15 season. He was never really a scorer, but he led the Cavs in offensive rebounds this year at 3.3 per game. 

Yet in Cleveland’s January meeting with the Los Angeles Clippers, he showed his ability to score the rock. 

He dropped 24 points on an efficient 10-of-12 from the field in a 126-121 win over the Clippers. The big man also pulled in 12 boards to lead his team. 

This game was important for a couple of reasons. For one, it proved Thompson’s ability to play productive minutes—especially with the absence of Kevin Love due to a back injury that was plaguing him most of the season.

Second, it came against a Clippers team that has a defensive juggernaut in DeAndre Jordan patrolling the painted area. Jordan finished third in Defensive Player of The Year votes and led the league in rebounds with 15 per game, according to ESPN.com. This was a huge showing for Thompson and the Cavaliers. 

3. LeBron Sends a Reminder That He's Still King

Date/Opponent: February 26, 2015 vs. Golden State Warriors

There is always that one game where LeBron reminds everyone of who he is, what he does and why he is still the best player in the world. 

The Cavs' second matchup against the Golden State Warriors was that game. James absolutely picked apart Stephen Curry and his Warriors, the No. 1-ranked team and defense, capping a 110-99 win. 

James ended the game with 42 points on 15-of-25 shooting, tacking on 11 boards and five assists. The volume of shots was uncharacteristic of LeBron, but his game that night still exhibited a certain type of calculated aggression. 

Tony Manfred from Business Insider Sports wrote: "It fit every definition of a statement game, for both the Cavs and LeBron. It was on national TV. It was against the best team in the league. It came after a month of dominance from the Cavaliers that needed only a signature win to cap it off."

This territory is familiar for the Warriors. Last year, when Kevin Durant was considered the front-runner for MVP, James came storming back. His step-back game-winner against Golden State proved he had something to say about that. 

James didn’t win MVP in either of the two past seasons. But games like this show the firepower he still has in the tank.

2. Can We Talk About Kyrie Irving?

Date/Opponent: January 28, 2015 vs. Portland Trail Blazers

Irving's ability to put the ball in the hoop and get to the rim is magician-like. His January meeting against Portland was, without a doubt, magical. With an injured LeBron out of in the lineup, Irving went bonkers.

He finished with a staggering 55 points, on 17-of-36 from the field—including 11 threes. 

The Cavs won 99-94 on a last-minute three-pointer from none other than Irving. It was truly an offensive clinic 

A lot was made of his unwillingness to share the ball this season. James, especially, ripped Irving for his zero-assist game. But after that game, he praised his guard for his offensive display. 

It was a coming of age for Irving, and the official initiation into LeBron James' trust—a much-needed fraternal brother in Northeast Ohio.

1. The 57-Piece in the Alamo City

Date/Opponent: March 12, 2015 vs. San Antonio Spurs 

No doubt about it, this had to be No. 1. Just when we thought Irving's 55-point showing against Portland was phenomenal, he dropped 57 on the San Antonio Spurs in their house. 

Unlike his previous game against the Portland Trail Blazers, many of Irving's shots were contested. The Spurs were ranked third in defensive efficiency this past season. 

And while Irving now holds the record in points for a single game with the Cavs, this isn’t a knock on the defending champs. 

He was just that good. At the 8:12 mark of the above video, TNT commentator Kevin Harlan said that “he felt a momentum shift in Cleveland’s favor.”

Shortly after, Irving split two defenders, euro-stepped into the lane and took the contact at the rim from Danny Green for the score. It only brought Cleveland within four points, and the Spurs would stretch their lead to as many as eight with two minutes remaining. 

But the ball-handling ability and knack for finishing around the rim proved to be the appetizer for things to follow for Irving. 

With three seconds remaining after San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard botched two free throws that would have put the Spurs up five, Irving sunk an impossible three over Leonard and Danny Green, sending the game to overtime. 

From that point on, it was all Irving as he scored 11 in overtime to seal a signature 128-125 win for his squad. 

All stats are courtesy of Basketball Reference and ESPN.com.