Before the All-Star break, Kyrie Irving told reporters he was exhausted. All during All-Star Weekend, even as he competed at the highest level, he talked about how tired he was, and he mentioned it again before Wednesday night’s nationally televised ESPN game against the New Orleans Hornets at The Q.
But when the fourth quarter rolled around, he was wide awake — and he opened the eyes of a national television audience. Irving scored 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, including 11 straight for the Cavs, to lead Cleveland to a 105-100 victory.
“You can kind of see it coming,” said Cavs coach Byron Scott. “He gets a little bit of a gleam in his eye. He hits one or two, and he kind of gets going. You could see in the fourth quarter, he was just really aggressive. I thought he did a great job of getting himself some space, getting to the basket, finishing, making shots. He just kind of put us on his back.”
Scott figures reporters can stop asking Irving about fatigue now.
“I think he’s all right,” the coach said as the Cavs improved to 17-37. “I don’t think he’s that tired.”
Irving came into the game as the fourth-leading scorer in the league in the fourth quarter, averaging 6.7 points, and the second-leading clutch scorer in the NBA behind Kevin Durant — and he only enhanced that reputation Wednesday.
“Luckily, some shots went in for me,” Irving said.
Scott brought Irving back in with 7:08 left in the game, about a minute earlier than normal, with the Cavs trailing, 76-74. A minute later, the game was tied, 79-79, and Irving was just getting warmed up. With the score tied again, 83-83, Irving scored the Cavs’ next 11 points. First, he hit a step-back 18-footer in front of the Cavs’ bench, then the reigning 3-point champion drained a trey from the top of the key. He followed that with two driving layups and two free throws. For the night, Irving made 13 of 22 field goals, including 2 of 5 3-pointers, all seven of his free throws and added five rebounds and seven assists.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
