2014 NBA All-Star Game MVP and FIBA World Cup MVP. What’s next for the Cleveland Cavaliers 22-year-old point guard?
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An NBA championship?
With LeBron James back in Cleveland and Kevin Love now in the fold, Kyrie Irving is about to enter the biggest season of his career as the Cavaliers are considered the favorites to be playing in the NBA Finals next June.
He cemented himself as an elite point guard in the All-Star Game by scoring 31 points and dishing out 14 assists to win MVP. He’s now starting to build his brand with the FIBA World Cup MVP which will grow his marketability on a global level.
Below is a review of Irving’s top three games from last season.
Feb. 26 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder- 31 points, nine assists, five rebounds, four steals
Ten days earlier, Kevin Durant had watched Irving capture the All-Star Game MVP in New Orleans. One of the themes of this night was Irving pushing the ball in transition, finding teammates for open shots. The Thunder decided to switch the ball screens when Durant was guarding the screener. The result? Irving either got into the paint or pulled up for three, where he shot 4-for-7 for the game.
With just more than a minute left, he finished a nifty layup plus the foul against the outstretched arms of Serge Ibaka to seal the win for the Cavaliers, arguably their biggest win of the year on the road in Oklahoma City.
Nov. 16 vs Washington Wizards- 41 points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals
Sporting the facemask, Irving scored when he wanted to and distributed when he wanted to, scoring his second-highest output of the year. He was getting to the rim, getting easy shots on the fast break, and hitting pull up threes over taller defenders. He also had his share of catch and shoot opportunities with multiple down screens being set by Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao.
Irving had his top 10 highlight moment when he went behind the back twice in a row to beat the ball pressure applied by Glen Rice Jr., then after he crossed over the help defender Jan Vesely, he finished an impressive floater over Nene Hilario.
Down the stretch, Irving iced both free throws with 32 seconds left to give the Cavaliers the lead. The game eventually went to overtime, where he hit a three in rhythm from the wing with three minutes left, and the Cavaliers never looked back. As good of a defender John Wall is known to be, Irving won that matchup fairly easily for the majority of the game.
April 5 vs. Charlotte Bobcats- 44 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals
Though the Cavaliers failed to come away with the win, Irving set a career-high by scoring 44 points. Much of his offense was orchestrated off the pick and roll with screens by Varejao and Tyler Zeller. He even posted up the smaller Kemba Walker, something he’s not accustomed to doing often.
Clutch time in the fourth quarter was a battle of the point guards. Irving finished a layup over Al Jefferson with under a minute left. Walker came back and buried a three over Irving from the left wing to put the Bobcats up two, then Irving sent the game into overtime with a pull up jumper near the free throw line.
Irving continued to attack in OT. Quicken Loans Arena erupted in applause when he Euro-stepped Chris Douglas-Roberts, drew the foul and finished a three-point play. He hit another jumper with just under two minutes left, but it wasn’t enough to hold on for the win. The Bobcats played the role of spoiler on the Cavaliers home court, but Irving fascinated the Cleveland faithful the way his new sidekick LeBron James used to do.