Normally, a mid-December matchup with the hapless Philadelphia 76ers is about as meaningless as a game can get for any NBA team. However, this certainly wasn’t the case for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season.
For the Cavs, their December game against Philly marked the return of star guard Kyrie Irving. After dealing with a litany of injuries last postseason, the worst of which being a fractured kneecap, Irving was finally healthy again.
However, it certainly didn’t seem like he was full strength that day, nor did it seem this way for a while afterwards. That said, after last night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, I think it’s essentially official: Kyrie Irving is back.
From the get-go, you could tell Irving was going to take a while to get back to playing like the star we all remember. Though he’d have nights where he’d get hot offensively, these were soon followed by games in which he contributed very few points. Obviously, such an inconsistent overall performance was frustrating for Irving, but he continued to plug along as the fans impatiently waited to see him in his All-Star form.
Based on the past couple weeks, it’s looking like said form has returned. In the last eight games, he’s averaged 26.9 PPG. His assist count has also been on the rise, averaging 6.7 assists per game this month. This last stat certainly implies he’s embracing coach Tyronn Lue‘s fast-paced offense, as well.
On top of all this, he’s also finally seeing his three-point game come back to life.
During his first month and a half back, Irving wasn’t shooting as well from long distance as he usually does. His three-point percentage was an alarmingly low .254 in the month of January. However, the Cavs insisted this was just Irving trying to get his legs back under him.
They may have been right, as Irving is starting to heat up from long-range. He went 5-for-8 from three in Monday night’s win against the Sacramento Kings, and 3-for-6 in last night’s victory over L.A. For his part, Irving is claiming it had nothing to do with health, instead stating it was a matter of just getting his confidence back.
Having games like the past two will certainly do wonders from a confidence perspective, and the hope is this is just a sign of what’s to come from Irving.
There’s always a chance he cools back down, as all players run into lulls after a hot streak every now and then. However, this current string of games is exactly what the Cavs needed to see from their point guard. Running under the mindset that, at full strength, they can put up a better fight against teams like the Golden State Warriors, the last thing they needed was to have one of their top players struggling to regain his form.
Now that it appears as though Irving is finally becoming the superstar Cleveland fans know and love, I can only imagine the Cavs are taking a huge sigh of relief. Here’s hoping the extended All-Star break doesn’t do anything to throw him out of rhythm.
