David Liam Kyle/NBAE/Getty Images
Kyrie Irving has spent the 2012-13 NBA season cementing his status as one of the league’s premier players. But because he plays in Cleveland, it has remained largely invisible unless you’re a Cavs season ticket holder or have League Pass.
It’s not invisible to Thunder fans anymore.
Irving scored 13 of the Cavaliers’ final 15 points — and assisted on the other two — on his way to 35 points in leading Cleveland to a 115-110 home victory over the Thunder on Saturday.
Irving, who tied Kobe Bryant for the season-high in scoring by a Thunder opponent, did his best Kevin Durant impersonation in taking over for his team over the final few minutes of the game, refusing to allow the Cavs to squander a late lead and take advantage of having kept the game close through the final stages. Irving got to whatever spot he wanted to get to on the floor and generally embarrassed the Thunder defense as he took control of the late stages.
Meanwhile, Durant was left slightly hobbled after suffering an apparent rib contusion in the second half. Durant was apparently pretty sore after the game, so it bears watching as the Thunder begin a home stand.
KD struggled from the get-go in this one, stumbling to a 1-5 start from the field in the fourth quarter and never really recovering. The Thunder stayed in the game with defensive energy through at least the first quarter, but had some lapses in allowing one of their worst point totals of the season.
A lot of it was Irving’s explosion, but the Thunder’s defensive struggles in the fourth quarter turned a winnable game into a disappointment against what should have been an over-matched opponent. OKC gave up a whopping 39 points in the fourth quarter, which is generally a recipe for disaster no matter who you’re playing.
Oklahoma City’s defensive strategy against Irving left a little to be desired in the 4th quarter — primarily because Scott Brooks never opted to throw Thabo Sefolosha at him in an attempt to slow him down. But with the way Irving was playing, it may not have mattered anyway.
This continues a strange, if not outright troubling, trend for the Thunder in struggling against the dregs of the Eastern Conference. The Thunder had already lost on the road to the Washington Wizards this season entering the Cleveland game, and suffered a second straight defeat at the hands of the Cavs after a surprising home loss to them last season as well.
It’s a little disappointing for the Thunder to be 3-4 in their last seven road games, but there’s nothing like the upcoming home stand to rebuild a little bit of momentum. After taking Super Bowl Sunday off, OKC is back at it Monday with a chance to right the ship.
NOTES
- I thought it was a good sign at the beginning of the game that the Thunder’s defense was on point. Cleveland didn’t get too many uncontested looks in the early going, even though OKC couldn’t get shots to drop on their own. But the effort, and effectiveness, faded late.
- You knew KD was out of sorts when he missed two of his first four free-throws. Serge Ibaka’s energy on the offensive boards took some of the early sting off the poor shooting early on.
- It was good to see Shaun Livingston out there for Cleveland. It doesn’t seem too long ago that Thunder fans were optimistic he could make for a good backup point guard in OKC. Hopefully he can stick with the Cavs for a while.
- DeAndre Liggins picked up a tech after about two minutes of play. It was his second in two games, and he was sent to the bench for good after he picked it up.
- Perry Jones also got some first-half playing time. He looked a little lost on defense.
- I’m looking forward to a few Nick Collison passes to a cutting Kevin Martin during some big moments in the playoffs.
- Speaking of Martin, he started really strong for the Thunder, playing in his home state. But his brightest moments were only in the first half.
- I’m not really a fan of the Cavs’ court design. And I don’t think the whole scheme is a good look especially when paired with those gold uniforms, for whatever reason.
- Marreese Speights killed the Thunder. The man made 10 of 15 shots and pulled down 10 boards.
- Not a great night for Reggie Jackson. Finished as a -15, by far the worst on the team, and it felt that way as it was happening.
- The Cavs made half their 3-pointers, which is pretty huge in a 5-point win.
- The Thunder can just wash their hands of this one and move on, right? Right.
Next up: Monday at home vs. Dallas.
Random Hollinger Stat: Reggie Jackson has the top rebounding rate of all qualifying NBA guards (point guards and shooting guards). Mostly doing it on the defensive side of the ball.
Jackson rebounds like a small forward.
We win this game if Brooks doesn't go Brookstupid on us and puts Thabo on Irving in those last 5 minutes. Instead he leaves the never-used Martin in to stand on the wing and watch us lose. Brooksfail(again) is why we lost.
#Thunder shoot-around going overtime. Usually done around 10:30 a.m. Still behind closed doors. #kyrieirvingfilmsession?
The new website layout is awesome!!!!!!
Michael
I think you did a mighty fine job writing about the game.
http://dailythunder.com/2013/02/tgr-90-russell-westbrook-and-royal-jelly/#respond
@Legendary_Dork you're late buddy
I dont totally agree with the writers opening paragraph. Yes kyrie plays for cleveland and no one really cares much except cavs fans but it sounded like he was making excuses for the thunders defense tonight, like they didnt know who kyrie irving is. Rookie of the year last year,two weeks ago was the eastern conference player of the week averaging 35 points a game and just recently voted in as an all-star reserve so unless you have been living under a rock it be hard to not see what kyrie has been doing lately.
http://dailythunder.com/2013/02/tgr-90-russell-westbrook-and-royal-jelly/
Here. Take it. It's not fake this time.
I miss Royce sooo much! But, if the Thunder refuse to show up for work why should he? I love you Royce!
I think garnet,milisap,nene and maybe al with horford are posible trade targets.with lamb perkins maynors and picks we can get one of them,but them whick one? Or I should send this to Royce and he will post some stats or something in next daily mail lol
Simple question-would trade russel for kyrie? I love russ,but kyrie...is amazing
@No beard no fear yes. Would clear crazy cap room since Russ is on the 5 yr max so it'd also mean we can bring in over 10mil more worth of people
@No beard no fear Wow are u serious? For an undersized injury prone point guard who's only good on the offensive end ? Give me a break...that's blasphemy !
@No beard no fear My heart says "no", but my head says "how can I turn off your internet?"
I love you Royce!
@No beard no fear yes
@No beard no fear no
I really wish Will Bynum wasn't in the last year of his deal. Otherwise I would consider Lamb/Jones and Jackson for him. It works in the trade machine. I'm not clear what a player of his caliber is going to get in free agency but probably more than we'd want to pay for our backup PG I'm guessing.
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=agylkbs
Just so we're clear that's Lamb or Jones, not both.
@Old Man Game Lamb will be better than Bynum
@Old Man Game I wouldn't trade either for Bynum.
@Old Man Game @Old because I want to beat Miami and I don't think a backup PG will help us beat Miami. I think we need a big, athletic 3/4 type (LMRAM) to get there. We can't afford to play both our bigs against them and Thabo is awful against Lebron so basically we need a big, athletic body that we can at least put on him so we don't have to either leave everyone else open or have him score 50.
@okcjim @Old Really? They aren't playing. What value do they have to the present? Bynum on the other hand could be a significant upgrade over Reggie.
This team is not playing up to its talent level. That's what should bother us. The defensive lapses, the allowing other teams' role players go off for 20+, the at times stagnant and one dimensional offense predicated entirely on KD being superhuman (which is great when he is but foolhardy when he falls back to earth now and then), its troubling. I still think the team can make a very deep playoff run just because of the matchups and KD's ability to in fact be Superhuman on many nights, but the idea we're winning it all this year is seeming increasingly unlikely.
@Old Man Game "allowing other teams' role players go off for 20+..."
We seem to do that a lot. Every back-up in the NBA ought to be licking their lips when we come to town because they know this is their shot at having a career-best night.
@TaoMaas I think this is yet another reflection of Brooks' poor ability to make in game adjustments when the you know what starts hitting the fan.
I hope this little mediocre stretch pushes us to make a deal. If that happens then it will have been worth it. Thabeet is tall so he gets rebounds and can protect the rim but he's horrible on defense and offense otherwise. Also the Reggie experiment is running out of time. Let Kmart run the point if we have to. I really hope we go get a big 3/athletic 4. I know the team likes these prospects and picks but the goal is to win a championship, use some of your pieces to complete this team that is so close!
I'm still scratching my head as to why Brooks didn't stick Thabo on Irving late in the game. not that he would have done any better...the defense was about as sorry as I've seen all season.
@Raven0829 he didn't feel like. That is his official story
@ICan'tGetNoSatisfaction @Raven0829 that's almost literally what he said when Darnell asked him.
Just saw what happened to MKG. Hope he's OK.
@Stringer Bell just a concussion all other tests were negative
@OBoy Jones III glad to hear that! Thanks for the update.
shit...i think i just head a gun shot outside O:
This comment has been deleted
@MJOKC south okc/ north moore,
@Legendary_Dork are you sure it wasn't just a KFC game day bucket going BOOM?
@bmuelle22 @Legendary_Dork
That comment is not just awesome. It's AWESOMER.
@bmuelle22 @Legendary_Dork
Just dragging my feet . . . but I'm really going . . . now. :)
@[censored] @senseandsenescence
There's a Mr. TC joke in there somewhere . . .
@senseandsenescence @ThunderChick2010 Sleep-liking.
@ThunderChick2010 TC can like with her eyes closed? Who's the bot now?
@ThunderChick2010 @Legendary_Dork I thought you were going to bed? lol
@Legendary_Dork go see
@1 Knee 4 Points 5 Rebounds 35 Million Dollars lol hell no, what if the guy is like..NO WITNESSES!
http://i.minus.com/iUTd2drT310C6.gif
Chandler Parson adding fuel to the rumors
@1 Knee 4 Points 5 Rebounds 35 Million Dollars which rumors?
@O O O O O O that him and Lin are the new Cuttino Mobley, Steve Francis.
Good night, DT. Can't keep my eyes open any longer . . .
Looks like KD is on pace to finally finish a season with more assists then TO's, which is a big improvement IMO.
@bmuelle22 I mentioned this at one point last year and he blew it. Why'd you have to go and do that..
@[censored] lol, let's hope we get a different result.
@bmuelle22 kd is playing levels above what he did last year, his dribbling has improved, his rebounding, his shooting, everything.
@Legendary_Dork also I think him driving the ball more rather then settling for jumpers has helped with his improved shooting efficiency. He's averaging almost 2 more ft's per game.
@Legendary_Dork He's taking slightly less 3pt'ers per game which I think is contributing to his higher 3pt percentage. He still forces some 3's but he's improved from years past.