Irving Torches Blazers for 55
Whether fans like him or not, LeBron James no doubt, has the superstar thing down to a science.
From the “King†self appointed nickname to the tattoo “Chosen 1†he put in block letters across his back, to commercials he appears in, James has taken the spotlight with open arms and embraced it.
On Wednesday night however, following the Cleveland Cavaliers win over Portland Trail Blazers, James did the best he could to remain invisible in the team’s locker room following Kyrie Irving’s masterpiece 55-point torching of Portland.
Reporters wanted a quote from James, after he sat out the game with a sprained wrist, but he preferred to move the focus to someone else.
He told reporters he would decline to speak to them and quietly slipped out of the dressing room saying the night belonged to Irving.
Irving said he was pleased with his play, but the most important part was the team won its eighth straight game. As James had shifted focus to Irving, the talented guard directed it to the team’s winning streak.
Irving set new franchise records for made 3-pointers with 11 and attempted 3-pointers with 19. He set the arena record for points scored passing the 54 Allen Iverson scored in 2001, and he set the season high in the NBA for points for one game passing Klay Thompson and Mo Williams’ 52.
However, trying to get Irving to revel in what he had accomplished was impossible.
Irving said everyone would continue asking how it felt to score that many points, but he was just interested in the win for the team.
It would be great to think that the performance by Irving would give him a ticket to next month’s All-Star Game, but the vote by the coaches for reserves took place on Tuesday night, just prior to him scoring 38 points in Detroit followed by his 55 at home in consecutive nights.
Even prior to the scoring outburst, he has had the play to make the game. Irving is averaging 22 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game while shooting over 41% from behind the 3-point line.
On Wednesday, Irving was 0-7 to start the game and missed five of seven shots to start the fourth quarter. However, he came back to score 10 important points down the stretch in the final four minutes including a 3-pointer to put the team ahead with only 6.4 seconds remaining.
The win over Portland gave Cleveland only its second win in 10 games without James in the lineup, but it did so much more for Irving.
Irving however does not embrace his budding superstar status as James has his. In his defense, Irving has not had the 10 plus years in the spotlight that James has had to transform himself, but with his play on Wednesday night that could be changing.
