Kyrie Irving may not be in the race for MVP, but in his fourth NBA season the Cleveland Cavaliers guard is playing like one.
A man that scores more than 55 points on two occasions in the season can only be aiming for greatness, despite the fact that he is yet to play in the playoffs.
After setting a career-high 55 points in a 99-94 home victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in January, the three-time All-Star guard came up with a MVP performance a couple of weeks ago against the San Antonio Spurs.
In front of the reigning champions’ fans, Irving, who turned 23 on Monday, set yet another record as the Cavaliers (46-26) beat the Spurs 128-125 in overtime.
In that game Irving’s 57 points were the most scored by any player in the season. He made all his seven three-point attempts, and converted his ten free-throws.
He also surpassed the highest single-game points total for a Cavaliers player, outscoring the 56 points LeBron James scored against the Toronto Raptors in 2005.
Irving’s record was the most scored by a visitor to San Antonio.
The difference between Irving’s role in the victory against Portland and San Antonio was that four-time LeBron James sat out against the Blazers, but witnessed Irving rescuing the Cavaliers from an imminent loss, before leaving home fans in disbelief and setting a career-high record.
It is incomprehensible how the 2011-12 Rookie of the Year, who continues to build on his career, has struggled to spark the Cavaliers into the post-season in his first four seasons in the league.
This may be the season of change, which began with Irving clinching the MVP award of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.
Next month, along with another playoff debutant Kevin Love, and two-time NBA champion LeBron James, Irving will have a chance of competing for the Larry O’Brien trophy.
“All the credit goes to my teammates,” Irving said after the historic win over the Spurs.
“They were doing a great job of screening me, getting me open. Our offensive execution down the stretch was huge. We got stops when we needed it. Everybody’s gearing up for playoff basketball.”
