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Daily NBA Fix: Does Kyrie Irving’s Return Ensure NBA Finals Rematch?

By Ben Gibson

Dec 20, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) drives off the pick of Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) as Philadelphia 76ers guard Kendall Marshall (5) defends during the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 20, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) drives off the pick of Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) as Philadelphia 76ers guard Kendall Marshall (5) defends during the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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On today’s Daily NBA Fix, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors locks for a NBA Finals rematch?

We may have jumped the gun a bit last week, but now Kyrie Irving has returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In his team’s 108-86 win on Sunday, he scored 12 points in 17 minutes, but we know this is just his first game as he is eased back into the lineup, and really, 12 points in 17 minutes ain’t a bad night either.

But the question this season hasn’t so much been when Kyrie will return as much as whether the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to be the Eastern Conference representative once again. There has been a gaggle in the conference this season as many of the teams have stepped up their play and narrowed the gap between them and the Western Conference, but in a way that is just background noise.

Thanks to having best of seven playoff series, the NBA playoffs almost always filter out the undeserving. There are upsets and occasional surprise runs but for the most part, a more talented team will almost always triumph over a clear underdog. The East may be getting better, but it doesn’t look like anyone has closed the gap on the Cavaliers.

That makes this season feel like a train bearing down on us, an inevitability more than a real question. Cleveland was still looking like the East’s best team so far this season, but Irving’s return almost guarantees the status quo at the top will remain.

Don’t think so? Look at Ben Goliver of Sports Illustrated‘s breakdown of the version of the Cavaliers we saw until now compared to last season’s leading squad:

"To get a reminder of what the Cavaliers are capable with Irving, look no further than their lineup data. Here’s how the most-used lineup by the ’15 Cavaliers (Irving, J.R. Smith, James, Love and Timofey Mozgov) compared to the most-used lineup by the ’16 Cavaliers so far (Williams in place of Irving).‘15 Cavaliers: Off. Rating: 116.1 | Def. Rating: 96.8 | Net Rating: +19.3 | 481 minutes‘16 Cavaliers: Off. Rating: 103.3 | Def. Rating: 101.6 | Net Rating: +1.7 | 151 minutesFor comparison’s sake, no team this season has a higher offensive rating overall than 116.1 and only the Spurs have a better defensive rating overall than 96.8. When Irving is on the court, Cleveland’s best unit plays elite basketball on both sides. Period. Without him, the Cavaliers are merely holding down the fort."

But holding down the fort for a month is all the Cavaliers really needed. I don’t think this team will have the same issues as last year. Last season was about figuring out how to play together and they were just turning the corner on that when the playoffs began.

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There might be a few hiccups as Irving is reintegrated into Cleveland’s rotation, but there aren’t the structural issues, per se, that Cleveland had last year. There aren’t surprise additions like Timofey Mozgov to figure out. This team has known what it was for quite some time now.

The only real question now is whether the Golden State Warriors are going to hold up their end of this. The San Antonio Spurs are the only real threat at the moment to stop the reigning champions, but even then we’re talking about a Golden State team that seems destined to with 70+ games and maybe even beat the 1995-96 Chicao Bulls’ 72-10 record.

Considering the injuries robbed us of what we expected to see in the NBA Finals in June, a rematch isn’t exactly running the same teams out either.

Is it inevitable? Right now, it looks that way.

Rubio is going to Rubio

If the Minnesota Timberwolves weren’t 11-16, maybe we’d get to see Ricky Rubio dish out assists like this more often. Against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, he threw out 15 assists in a 100-85 victory.

It sometimes feels like these assists don’t matter as much because they aren’t in the playoff race, but that’s ignoring what this team will likely be in the years to come. The Timberwolves have so much young talent, but they aren’t quite there yet.

One can only hope they remain patient and keep this core together. Kevin Love brought them out of the basement, but his trade and the assets the Timberwolves gathered from it might finally return them to the playoffs. Just not this year.

Bennett Heads to the D-League

Anthony Bennett is headed to the NBA Developmental League to join the Raptors 905, but the most surprising part is it was at his own request.

Bennett becomes the first former No. 1 overall pick to do so. That may sound humbling, and it is, but at the same time it might be exactly what he needs. It now seems very clear that he was taken too early in the 2013 draft, but hopefully now he can get some playing time and really work on his game. That is exactly what the D-League is for.

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He was too raw coming into the NBA and the Cavaliers expected him to play early and often, which never worked out. Hopefully he can find something in the D-League and then return to the main roster and contribute. It may be a long shot, but he’s not going to get any better sitting on the Raptors bench.