![]() When you play like Kyrie Irving, there is always the opportunity for a Game 2 type performance. Irving’s saving grace: there was a lot of basketball to be played. But here it was, on the biggest stage imaginable, Irving’s moment - and he looked utterly bad. It hadn’t kept him from making All-Star Games, or winning All-Star MVP’s, or becoming a Nike Signature athlete. His team’s before LeBron James’ return hadn’t achieved anything, but there were plausible excuses for that. For the first time, it was possible that Kyrie Irving’s best wasn’t going to be good enough. Irving’s final line in a 110-77 Golden State beatdown of his team: 10 points on 14 shots, three turnovers, and one assist. ![]() All the same, the Cavs needed his best.īiggest game of Kyrie Irving's career in under three hours.- David Zavac June 5, 2016 He even told President Obama as much once the season was over. If you listen to the Cavs ‘coach, Tyronn Lue, you know Irving was doing his job. The burden fell on him because even as he became friends with Kevin Love off the court, he never developed the pick and pop rapport many envisioned. He played like a shooting guard, launching shot after shot with an assist or two sprinkled in. The burden fell on him because he became the secondary creator next to LeBron. He didn’t call the Warriors out for their arrogance, or loudly proclaim that the results were on him. Mind you, he didn’t do it by openly boasting of his skill. James, because it comes with the territory. The weight of it all fell on the shoulders of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Lose, though, and the margin for error became close to nil. ![]() A win would inject life into a series most observers thought over before it started, give the Cavs homecourt advantage, and perhaps put the Golden State Warriors on their heels. Durant said he has the All-Star game circled as a potential return game, but time will tell if he can return before.The Cleveland Cavaliers entered Game 2 of the 2016 NBA Finals with a daunting task, but a tremendous opportunity. Brooklyn meanwhile are just looking to hang with the top teams in the East as they wait for Kevin Durant to return from injury. The loss keeps the Lakers in 13th place in the West, but they sit just three and a half games back of the LA Clippers in 4th place in a very compact conference. Irving ended the night with 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Nets’ bench had 65 of the 121 points scored on Monday night. Day’Ron Sharpe, Nick Claxton and Yuta Watanabe were playing some fantastic defense around the rim and they helped carry the Nets to the 17 point win. Irving didn’t run wild in the fourth quarter like he did against the Knicks in the Nets previous game because he didn’t have to. Patty Mills and Cam Thomas both finished the night with 21 points and each had their say in a 10-0 run that ran into the first minutes of the fourth quarter. With no James or Davis the Lakers failed to keep that momentum rolling once they pulled ahead, and quickly fell behind thanks to some brilliant bench play from Brooklyn. Los Angeles looked like a different team coming out of the halftime break as Thomas Bryant came to life and led a 14-0 run to start the third quarter to give the Lakers the lead for the first time since the early seconds of the game. ![]() The Nets made things even more difficult by controllng the pace of play thanks to Kyrie Irving’s insistence on running and gunning as Brooklyn kept hold of double digit lead for most of the first half. LA struggled from the field in the first 12 minutes of the game, scoring just 16 points and shooting under 35% from the field. Royce O’Neale got the Nets going early on with three quick buckets and Brooklyn flew out to a double digit lead. Kevin Durant is still nursing his sprained knee back to health, and Ben Simmons didn’t dress while Lakers’ stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis sat the second game of a road back-to-back series in Brooklyn. It was a game that was supposed to be headlined by some of the games biggest names, but injuries and fatigue made for a matchup that lacked considerable star power. Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 26 points in the 121-104 victory at the Barclays Center. The Brooklyn Nets continued to climb the Eastern Conference standings with a win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. ![]()
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