Written by Andrew Clayman

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The return of Kyrie Irving was nice, but the absence of Danny Granger was even nicer, as the Cavaliers opportunistically roundhouse-kicked a wobbly-kneed Pacer squad at the Q, 98-87. Indiana (17-12) has now suddenly dropped five straight, while the Cavs (11-16) stopped a two-game skid with their third win over a playoff-bound club this month. Unlike the Mavs and Clippers, though, the Pacers were without their top scorer— a man (Granger) who has traditionally celebrated games against Cleveland like they were extra wishes granted by an overzealous genie (20 PPG against the wine and gold in his career).

In the early going, Kyrie—fresh off a weeklong cobweb-clearing sabbatical—made it swiftly known that his head booboo was all better, scoring 12 points in the first quarter alone on 5-of-6 shooting. But as Cleveland raced out to a 32-20 lead, it wasn’t Irving raising the most eyebrows. Nor was it even the miraculous sight of Omri Casspi drilling three straight long-range jumpers. Nope, we’re gonna just go ahead and say this night belonged to the big Turk out of… Turkey; your new starting center, Semih Erden!

With Anderson Varejao’s broken wrist ruining his chance at an All-Star snubbery showdown with newly elected Eastern Conference reserve Roy Hibbert, the latter was instead ironically outshined by a man who didn’t even make his own mother’s ballot. Erden, in just his second start since Varejao’s injury, showed he was actually capable of running Andy’s pick-and-roll a little bit, leading to a bunch of easy, uncontested looks under the basket. He scored seven points in the first quarter—two bunnies and an and-1—and remained relevant all night, tallying 32 minutes, grabbing 8 boards, and shooting 7-of-8 for a career-high 18 points.

Perhaps learning from the Milwaukee game last week when a 17-2 lead was erased in two shakes of a lamb’s tail, the Cavaliers kept the intensity up into halftime, extending their lead to 56-38. The Pacers-- still clearly dazed from getting bitch-slapped at home by Miami the night before—looked like they were trying to throw boulders into coffee cups. This didn’t change all that much in the second half, as starters David West (10 pts), Dahntay Jones (3 pts), and Paul George (11 pts) wound up shooting a combined 9-of-37 (24%) from the field for the game. And yet, somehow, the Cleveland lead slowly, almost glacially, began to shrink.

First, Boobie Gibson (8 pts)—forced into the starting lineup with Anthony Parker still on the shelf—landed awkwardly in the third quarter and fell to the court in a heap: sprained ankle, didn’t return. Then the shooting woes began. After his first quarter three-point exhibition, Battlecat Casspi went back to being Cringer, finishing 3-10 from the field for 10 points; though he did bring down 9 boards. Similarly, Antawn Jamison (13 pts, 8 rbs, 4 asts) and Alonzo Gee (8 pts, 5 rbs, 3 asts) only shot a combined 8-of-29 from the floor, but they helped supply a lot of the hustle points lost with Varejao in street clothes.

For the most part, though, it was the Cleveland point guards that held any hopes of an Indiana comeback at bay. While Hibbert (17 pts, 8 rbs) and Darren Collison (18 pts) played well and cut the lead down to as low as 9 in the final minutes, Irving—and a suddenly refocused Ramon Sessions—never let things get interesting.

After being in a disturbing funk all season, Sessions appears to have legitimately benefited from Irving’s bump on the head, as he’s suddenly shooting 50% and averaging 17 points over this last four games. Tonight, he was a tasteful 5-for-5 off the bench in 30 minutes, draining two three-pointers and adding 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He also helped shake the Cavs out of a miserable fourth quarter sleepwalk (they went scoreless for the first 5 minutes of the period, dropping their lead to 79-67), converting an old-fashioned three-point play, a new-fashioned 3-point play, and a nifty fast break assist that became a exclamation point dunk for Gee. As has become a staple of the Cleveland offense since Anthony Parker went down, Sessions was playing side-by-side with Irving down the stretch, and it again proved to be a pretty fruitful backcourt combo, despite the lack of size.

As for Kyrie, the kid rolls out of the hospital bed making plays. Tonight, zero rust. Matched up with the pesky Darren Collison, Irving shot 8-of-12 (3-5 from downtown) for 22 points, along with five assists. He also avenged the overtime loss to Indiana in December, when his own botched lay-up at the end of regulation eventually helped cost Cleveland the game.

Some other young point guards might be stealing all the NBA headlines at the moment, but the actual Rookie of the Year trophy remains Kyrie’s to lose.