Kyrie Irving Explodes for Double Nickel vs Blazers
29 Jan, 2015
Kyrie Irving scored a career-high 55 points, the most in the NBA this season and a Quicken Loans Arena record, on Wednesday night as the Cavs won their eighth straight, 99-94 over the Portland Trail Blazers despite playing without an injured James.
With James sidelined with a sprained right wrist, Irving made a team record 11 3-pointers, all 10 of his free throws and dropped a go-ahead jumper with 6.4 seconds left that, to this point, is his defining moment as a pro. There are sure to be others to come.
Irving, who scored 38 on Tuesday in Detroit, was unstoppable.
“I’ve seen a lot of great performances,” Cavs coach David Blatt said. “But something quite like that? No. I have not seen that and I’ve been coaching a long time.”
Irving didn’t start too well. He missed his first seven shots before heating up and scoring 11 points in the final 1:39 of the first quarter. He had 28 points at halftime, 39 after three quarters and he scored 16 in the fourth to break the arena’s single-game record set by Allen Iverson on Jan. 6, 2001. Remarkably, Irving scored 43 more points than his next closest teammate.
After the Trail Blazers tied it 94-all on two free throws by LaMarcus Aldridge with 27.6 seconds to go, the Cavs called a timeout to set up a play. There was only one choice: Give the ball to Irving.
“I was really, really emotional at that moment,” said Irving, likely to be named an All-Star reserve on Thursday. “But the only thing I was worried about was getting that stop.”
Portland had a chance to tie, but Damian Lillard was way off with a 3-pointer from the corner and the rebound was grabbed by Irving – who else? – and he was fouled. He stepped to the line with 2.1 seconds left, and with chants of “M-V-P” cascading down from the arena’s upper deck and James standing on the sideline with his hands on his head in disbelief, Irving knocked down two free throws to crown his monumental night.
“It was a total team effort,” Irving said after he had been soaked by his teammates, a moment Tristan Thompson shared on Instagram.
AP
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