Written by Demetri Inembolidis

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After 11 games in the 2010-2011 season, the Cavs had a record of 5-6.  That was probably the highest point for the Cavs during that miserable campaign.  One of the more memorable games came against the Lakers at the Staples Center.  The Cavs lost by a score of 112-57.  The Lakers were one measley field goal away from doubling-up on the Cavs.  Only 2 players scored in double figures for the Cavs and they shot 29.9%.  It was one of those performances that really makes one have to question why they even bother watching the games.

In a black-and-white world, January 11, 2011 and January 13, 2012 are the same exact thing:  Cavaliers losses.  Sometimes, a loss is not simply a loss.  Looking at it more closely, it is easy to see how much progress the Cavs are making.  When the final buzzer sounded, the Lakers had won by a score of 97-92.  When it takes over 40 minutes and 42 points from Kobe Bryant to beat the Cavs by 5 points, it is entirely reasonable to feel optimistic about the direction of the Cavs. 

The optimism starts with Kyrie Irving and his impressive play.  Some pundits and fans did not want anything to do with Kyrie Irving and thought that the Cavs made a mistake drafting him instead of Derrick Williams.  Irving is making the “but he only played 11 games!” crowd look silly.  He played a fearless brand of basketball and scored 21 points on 8-16 shooting.  Having a point guard who is not afraid of the big moment who is also a willing passer is going to be very fun for Cavs fans.  

Not everything was pretty for the Cavs.  If you want to pinpoint why they lost, you can probably look at the second quarter when they shot 20% and were outscored 27-13.  It was during this stretch that created what resulted in an insurmountable lead for the Lakers.  If the Cavs could have made three more baskets and improved their shooting to  35%, they would have been in a position to win the game.    

    
Kobe Bryant was phenomenal and continued his streak of 40 point games.  Bryant may be getting up there in age and minutes played throughout his career, but he is still the most polished offensive player in the NBA.  His ability to fake out his defender and get an open shot despite being played closely is a real treat to watch.  I hope NBA fans enjoy Kobe Bryant because we do not know how much longer he will be able to play at this level.  Many people give Kobe Bryant credit for refining his low-post game and his offense, but it is something that needs to be seen to truly understand how impressive it is.  Bryant has his flaws, but all is forgiven when he is performing at a high level.

A telling sign about this game and the improvement by the Cavs is that Kobe Bryant had to play over 40 minutes and he had to score 42 points to get the win.  If Kobe Bryant would have played that many minutes against the Cavs last year, it would have been seen as an irresponsible coaching decision by Phil Jackson.

Speaking of Lakers coaches, Mike Brown made his debut against his old team.  The Lakers played a very “Mike Brown” game by keeping the opponent’s field goal percentage low and scoring efficiently.    

The Good: Kyrie Irving had his fourth straight 20 point game and is taking charge of the Cavs offense.  In the past 4 games, he is scoring 22 PPG on 54.6% shooting.  During this stretch, he is only averaging 3.5 free throws per game.  Once Irving gets more respect from the officials and can figure out how to draw contact better, his scoring will be even more impressive.  Irving is proving to be more of a score-first point guard, but he has demonstrated through his young career that he has the ability to be a more than capable passer.     

The Bad: Matt Barnes is quite the frontrunner.  During the 2nd quarter when the Lakers looked like the most elite team in the history of the NBA, he was acting like a punk to Omri Casspi.  His attitude even earned himself a technical foul.  He was jawing and had a scowl during the entire quarter.  When the Cavs were within striking distance in the 4th quarter, that side of Matt Barnes was nowhere to be found.  Matt Barnes is the worst kind of scrub.

The Ugly: More than usual, Austin Carr sounded like a broken record.  What he was saying made sense, but it only needed to be said once or twice.  Kobe Bryant is a veteran with a lot of games played under his belt.  He is playing out of his mind and it is a reflection of the lackluster Lakers bench, but there is no need for us to be reminded throughout the whole game that the Lakers will not succeed in the playoffs if he plays this hard for the entire season.