“With the first pick in the 2011 draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select Kyrie Irving.”  

That is sounding better than ever.  Although some people on forums and sports radio call-in shows thought the Cavs should go in another direction, it is abundantly clear that Chris Grant made the right choice.  Kyrie Irving is averaging 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.  More importantly, he has already hit three game-winning shots and made clutch free throws to ice another game in his 33 game career.  Quite frankly, Kyrie Irving is even impressing me even though I never once thought drafting Derrick Williams was a good idea.

Kyrie Irving has been very impressive.  What is happening is that the excitement around having what appears to be a rookie star player is making a lot of people overlook the season that Tristan Thompson is having.  The story on Thompson going into the draft is that he has a “high motor,” is a very good offensive rebounder and that he can block shots.  Conversely, he struggles at the free throw line and does not have a knack for scoring efficiently.  Halfway through the season, very little about his performance thus far is changing that perception.

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Kyrie Irving refused to lose- and thanks in large part to him, the Cavaliers didn’t. Cleveland ended its season-long six-game losing streak with a scintillating 100-99 upset of the Nuggets in Denver Wednesday night, the spectacular rookie again leading the way with a sensational fourth quarter capped off by the game-winning basket with four seconds to play.

Irving’s late heroics were just the biggest highlight of perhaps the most exciting last few minutes the Cavaliers have played all season. Neither team led by more than two in the last eleven-and-a-half minutes and in the last 2:36 the lead changed hands nine times. It was punch and counter-punch down the stretch- and in the end, it was the precocious Irving that launched the final, decisive haymaker that sent Denver down to defeat in front of a stunned crowd at the Pepsi Center.

Start at the Finish: Up until the final two-and-a-half minutes Irving really hadn’t done a whole lot: eight points on 4-of-12 shooting with seven assists while being outplayed by his point-guard counterpart Ty Lawson. But the youngster knows when to turn it on, and with 2:36 left he emerged from the phone booth and went to work. Irving began his stretch run by splitting a double team and waltzing inside for a three-point play to give the Cavaliers a 91-90 lead.

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The narrative leading into Monday night’s Cavs game against the Utah Jazz was how much the visiting team struggles on the road.  The Jazz only had 3 road wins in 13 attempts.  If one thing is evident so far into the season, it is that the Cavs should not take any opponents lightly.  They appeared to do so against the Jazz, who also beat the Cavs on January 10th.  

The game in Cleveland felt like a bad case of deja vu.  In both games, the Jazz big men rotation was too much for Cleveland to handle.  In the first meeting, Al Jefferson, Paul Milsap and Derrick Favors combined for 27 made shots in 33 attempts.  Any time three players take 33 shots and make 81.2%, it is going to be nearly impossible to win.  

One has to question whether the Cavs did not respect their opponent or if the Jazz big men were simply too much to handle for Ryan Hollins, Samardo Samuels, Antawn Jamison and Tristan Thompson.  Given the inconsistent nature of the Cavs, it could be a combination of both factors.

The Jazz are doing a stellar job at rebuilding.  They were a team that had a lot of regular season and playoff success, but their general manager Kevin O’Connor has been trading veterans and amassing a nice collection of first round picks.  The Jazz do not have anybody who is considered a star player, but their big man rotation is among the best in the NBA.  In addition to their own picks, they were able to draft Gordan Hayward and Enes Kanter via trades.  Additionally, the Jazz will have their own and the New Jersey Nets’ first round picks to use in this upcoming draft.  

The reason that I bring this up is to point out that the Jazz do not have as many deficiencies in the roster as Cleveland does.  They have a legitimate championship caliber big man rotation.  They could probably use an upgrade at point guard and at the wings, but they can probably work around that using many of their assets this summer.  The Jazz may be a bad team on the road, but they should not have any problems beating a team that has to choose between starting Semih Erden and Ryan Hollins.  

The Cavs fell behind early and a lot of it had to do with Kyrie Irving’s struggles.  He had a single point in the first half and he missed all 6 of his shots.  Irving took his game to another level in the second half and he finished with 22 points.  He had another convincing fourth quarter (8 points on 4/5 shooting), but it was too little, too late for the Cavaliers.  

The other takeaway story from the game was how poorly the Cavs rebounded.  The Jazz finished with 46 rebounds, 13 of which were on the offensive end.  The Cavs are statistically a decent rebounding team, but the loss of Anderson Varejao and the matchup proved to be too much.   

Gordon Hayward came off the bench and he matched his season high with 23 points.  Hayward appears to be playing more comfortably, which is great for the Jazz.  

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The unofficial second half of the season went underway on Tuesday night.  At this point, the Cavs are somewhat of an enigma.  They have a sub-.500 record, but appear to play hard every single night and they look like a professional basketball team.  The same could not be said about the Cavs in their previous campaign. 

There are specific areas that show actual improvement.  One of those areas is in point differential.  In 2010-2011, the Cavs were dead-last in the league and were outscored by an average of a whopping 9.0 points per game.  The Cavs are showing signs of progress and despite being outscored by 4 points per game.  The team is in 23rd place in the league and has a long way to go, but a difference of 5 points per game is significant.  

The Cavs are actually scoring less points per game this season than the previous year.  The league has taken a step back offensively, which could account for the improved standings in most offensive categories despite the reduced offensive output.  Previously, the Cavs were scoring 95.5 points per game (which ranked them 25th overall).  Currently, the Cavs are scoring 93.7 points per game which is good enough for 19^th best in the league.  The lowest scoring team from last year was the Milwaukee Bucks who were scoring 91.9 points.  In this present season, the Charlotte Bobcats are the worst in the league with 86.7.  Although the Cavs are not scoring that many more points, the league trend is lower than previous years and the Cavs are showing improvement.  One has to think that adding in Kyrie Irving to the mix has a lot to do with explaining the improvement.

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