Kyrie Irving says he’ll make season debut vs. 76ers on Sunday
Kyrie Irving told us earlier this week that, when he was ready to return to the lineup, he’d let us know himself. Evidently, the Cleveland Cavaliers point guard’s a man of his word:
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The All-Star point guard, who missed the first 24 games of the 2015-16 campaign rehabilitating after undergoing season-ending surgery to repair the fractured left kneecap he suffered during Game 1 of the 2015 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, will apparently make his season debut during the Cavaliers’ Sunday matinee meeting with the Philadelphia 76ers. (Enjoy that, Philly.)
That’s been Irving’s expected return date for a little while now, but after doctors cleared Irving for full contact more than a week ago, there was some speculation that he might look to come back against the Boston Celtics or for Cleveland’s nationally televised Thursday matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Instead, Cavaliers brass decided discretion was the better part of valor, electing to hold Irving out for a few more days — which didn’t harm the Cavs too much, as they beat both Boston and OKC — to ensure that the 23-year-old triggerman will be ready to go when the rubber meets the road.
Irving, for his part, sounds ready to go 0 to 100, real quick:
We’re sure Cavaliers fans are pretty bleeping excited, too. While Cleveland has ably weathered the absence of its three-time All-Star point guard, posting an Eastern Conference-leading 17-7 record while scoring 104.8 points per 100 possessions, the NBA’s fourth-best mark, the Cavaliers have tended to look more “impressive” than “dominant” — a clear step below the likes of the Warriors and San Antonio Spurs at this stage — without Irving, one of the game’s most gifted ball-handlers, shooters, scorers and playmakers.
LeBron James has continued to perform at an MVP-caliber level. Kevin Love has looked more comfortable and productive while serving in a more central offensive role in Year 2 in Cleveland. Mo Williams and Matthew Dellavedova have done more than their fair share in holding down the fort on the ball in Irving’s absence.
But it’s Irving’s bursts of brilliance, all-around excellence — he’s averaged at least 20 points, five assists, three rebounds and 1.5 steals per game over the past three seasons, and is one of just 23 players ever with at least three such seasons under his belt, according to Basketball-Reference.com — and capacity to give Cleveland another all-world talent who can make life easier for his teammates and take over games that elevates the Cavaliers as currently constructed from great to potentially special, as noted by David Zavac of Fear the Sword:
The Cavs have survived, and more, Irving’s absence. But there has been extra stress on the Cavs roster without Irving, and his return will help relieve that tension. In fairness, it isn’t just Irving who has missed time in the Cavs backcourt. Iman Shumpert has played just one game.Mo Williams and J.R. Smith have missed a bit of time. And while Matthew Dellavedova has operated just fine as the team’s point guard, it’s led to more creating responsibilities for LeBron James. […]
The Cavs have made real progress at finding non-LeBron, non-Kyrie scoring and creating options. Unfortunately, a 33.2% usage rate represents James’ highest mark since 2009-10. He’s still averaging under 37 minutes per game, but his minutes have ticked up a bit from last year, which can’t have been the trend the Cavs had in mind coming into the season. LeBron isn’t old. He turns 31 at the end of the month. But the Cavs can and should be managing both his minutes and responsibilities, both for June effectiveness, and for 2019 effectiveness.
The good news is that there’s a ready-made solution on the Cavs roster; Kyrie Irving simply needs to be healthy and ready to go.
And now, after some six months on the shelf, he is. From Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group:
[The cautious approach to coming back] was frustrating for [Irving], but he understood the bigger picture.
“I’ve been ready to play, but bio-mechanically, we just wanted to make sure everything was good so I’m not putting myself at higher risk to go out there and get hurt again,” he said.
Irving said he says he feels his knee is stronger than ever. He’ll be on a minute restriction the first couple of games. Head coach David Blatt wouldn’t provide a number. […]
“Obviously as a competitor, you want to get out there, but for me, I let go of all my selfish inside emotions and put them aside and did what’s best for my body and did what’s best for the team,” Irving said. “Coming back tomorrow, I finally got the full clearance from my doctors and the training staff, and that’s all I needed.”
And that means Irving will get two tune-up bouts — against the 76ers Sunday, and against the New York Knicks on Wednesday — before the Cavaliers take the court on Friday for their long-anticipated Christmas Day showdown with the Warriors in a rematch of last season’s Finals. Basketball lovers have been wondering since June what it would look like if Cleveland and Golden State locked horns at full superstar strength. Now, thanks to Irving’s return, it looks like we’ll get to find out. You must’ve been pretty good little boys and girls this year to get this kind of present. Great job, gang.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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