Last night’s Cavaliers vs. Hornets/Pelicans game was my most anticipated matchup between teams sporting a combined record of 35-72 in league history. The logic for this train of thought mainly stemmed from it being a battle of the last two first overall picks in Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. The end result? One barely made an imprint on the game while the other did things that are quickly becoming part of an everyday sequence.
Cleveland’s newest superstar-on-the-rise used his national television opportunity to stamp what his weekend in Houston helped outline. The kid has next. Shit, he damn near has now until you look at the Cavs record. Tied at 83 with a little over four minutes left, the feeling was almost as if everyone who watched the game had a crystal ball. We all knew Kyrie was on the verge of taking over. The Hornets knew it, too, yet it was out of their control by that point. Cleveland’s All-Star dropped 20 in the fourth including 11 straight and 18 of 20, giving him a line of 35 points, five rebounds, seven assists and two steals on 13-22 from the floor en route to a 105-100 win.
The only goal for the Cavs’ this season should be to stay healthy (and not winning themselves out of a high lottery pick, too). Nevertheless, there is an upside to Cleveland most teams with lopsided records do not. They’ll be on national television at least five-to-seven times next year. As noted before, more talent is scrambled throughout this roster than any when Cleveland’s former favorite was wearing #23. Pending the front office can run to the wishing well one more time on draft night – Kyrie, Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters have all been solid-to-franchise cornerstone selections – there’s a chance the Cavs could be a nationally relevant basketball team come Spring 2014.*
* – Someone tell the Comic Sans Font guy to ditch the ketchup and mustard jerseys, too. Go back to these.