Game Thread: Cavs @ Spurs

[bksballer89]

I think everyone would take kyrie now which is understandable. Most people would take a young player in his early 20s over a player in his 12th year with bad knees.

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

Let's settle down a bit with the annoiting of Kyrie as some all-time great.
He is a very good player than can succeed with a deep talented team around him....lottery team without.

Young Dwyane Wade was much better than young Kyrie.
He was able to carry stiffs to the playoffs.

And If nothing else, Wade was a mediocre defender whereas Kyrie might be the worst defender on the planet.

Lost in the game last night was that injured and slow Tony Parker (who has totally sucked on offense for 2 months) went crazy last night as well playing against Kyrie.

 

[gordontrue]

Parker was fantastic last night. He and Leonard were the biggest reasons they had that game zipped up ready to win, IMO. When TP is hitting those mid range shots he's impossible to guard.

We can appreciate the phenomenal performance by Kyrie last night without having to annoint him an all-time great or even compare him to current veteran greats.

He's early in his career, hasn't even been to the playoffs, and - fair or not - won't get full credit for any success that comes in the next few years because of the arrival of LeBron James.

Personally, I think he is one of the best ball handlers I've ever seen - if not the best - and a fantastic shooter. His playmaking ability and defense could both use some work... but I think he has the ability to improve on both throughout his career.

 

[hockey878]

First, I agree prime Dwade is better than Kyrie. His career is better. Kyrie is far from an all-time great.

But when we are speaking of "young Dwade" vs Kyrie, how are we making that comparison?

Because I'd take 22 year old Kyrie over 22 year old Dwade.

I would NOT however take 4th year in the NBA Kyrie over 4th year in the NBA dwade.

And I'm not so certain that 22 year old dwade was THAT much better of a defender than Kyrie is right now, although someone can correct me on that if I'm wrong. A lot of young guys start to improve on D around this age. Probably because of physical/mental maturity, they add strength and start to realize how important it is

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Kyrie scores 57 and the Cavs only win by 3.

 

[hockey878]

I mean, sure PRIME dwade carried stiffs to the playoffs, but young 22 year old dwade? Heck no.

 

[hockey878]

Kyrie scores 57 and the Cavs only win by 3.

spurs shot 56% and lost by 3. Kevin Love was non-existant.

Two sides to every coin.

 

[lakersrule]

Great game. It was fun switching back and forth between the Spurs/Cavs and that other great game going on at Staples.

 

[trojanfan12]

"Kyrie has had two 50 point games this season. That's so cute." - Wilt, MJ and Kobe

 

[trojanfan12]

some interesting stuff...

I read an article just now that said LeBron was 5/13- and looked frusterated in this game- he got into it physically with Leonard, and looked outta sorts....similar to him in those later games in the Finals last year...

tonight, Kyrie stepped up, started going nuts, and all of a sudden the pressure came off James a little, he finished great, and the CAvs win in San Antonio. I bet nights like tonight LeBron feels really good about his decision to come back home. Him and Kyrie have a very bright future playing together- regardless if Love is here for 1 more year, 2 more years or 5 more years.

again, hats off to the Spurs. Great game- they laid in the weeds for a couple months, and now everyone is healthy and they have really turned it on. Parker was unstoppable on offense, Leonard was a beast on both ends, Duncan looked spry, Danny Green lit it up from outside and played like the great role player he is.

That would be a fun fun Finals if it happens.....

57 for THE Kyrie Irving. Only guy with 2 50+ games in a season in NBA History besides MJ, Kobe, and the immortal Tom Chambers! Making history!

Uh, Wilt AVERAGED 50 in a season. Pretty sure he had more than two 50 point games that season. In fact, Wilt was so good, he had two 50 point games in the same game once.

 

[Logicallylethal]

Everyone who watched that game was enamored by Kyrie's performance. I'd say it was the best game of the year considering who he faced and the level of efficiency that he displayed.

I love me some Kyrie, but man Wiggy you got to tone it down. You make it hard for other fans to enjoy watching Kyrie. Rather than celebrate his performance and giving simple praises like others were, you came in on the offensive attacking others for comments made a while back.

Then the outlandish comment about Dwade lol

Dwade won a scoring title (30 ppg) shooting 49 %...oh and he also averaged a measly 5 reb and 7.5 ast that year too. Kyrie isn't a fraction of the player that Dwade was. And as exciting as he is as a scorer...still not close to the level that Dwade was at in his prime either.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

spurs shot 56% and lost by 3. Kevin Love was non-existant.

Two sides to every coin.

First of all, that was the best game I've seen all season.
The show Kyrie put on, especially because of the situation was also the best Ive seen all season, so there is absolutely no hate at all in this post.

That being said, if I'm the Spurs, other then the fact they lost, I am almost totally satisfied with how that game was played.
They were in sync offensively. Reminded me of how they looked vs the Heat.
Nobody is stopping James, but Leonard for the most part makes him work hard on both ends of the court and had him frustrated to the point that James picked up a T when he as well as all of us thought the game was over.

Despite what Kyrie did, if Leonard makes 1/2 Fts or if Pops fouls (like hes supposed to) the Spurs win.

Kyrie isnt replicating that anytime soon, Im pretty sure.
The Spurs CAN shoot that high of a % for a series. They've proven it.
The Spurs also could make adjustments. I'm not so sure what adjustments the Cavs are making.

And WTF is up with Love? What a joke.

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

spurs shot 56% and lost by 3. Kevin Love was non-existant.

Two sides to every coin.

Please. That is beyond homerism.
That is just ridiculous to compare the two.

Cleveland got a once in a lifetime performance unlikely to be seen again for a while.
San Antonio got a good night, but it wasnt historic...
And, it was offset by horrible FT shooting. (Greens meaningless 3 FTS salvaged a bad night %)

Kyrie will almost never have a game like that the rest of his career.
The Spurs will shoot 56% versus someone later this month and probably again this year as well.
Heck they came close to AVERAGING that in the playoffs last year.

What Kyrie did will likely never happen again.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Everyone who watched that game was enamored by Kyrie's performance. I'd say it was the best game of the year considering who he faced and the level of efficiency that he displayed.

I love me some Kyrie, but man Wiggy you got to tone it down. You make it hard for other fans to enjoy watching Kyrie. Rather than celebrate his performance and giving simple praises like others were, you came in on the offensive attacking others for comments made a while back.

Then the outlandish comment about Dwade lol

Dwade won a scoring title (30 ppg) shooting 49 %...oh and he also averaged a measly 5 reb and 7.5 ast that year too. Kyrie isn't a fraction of the player that Dwade was. And as exciting as he is as a scorer...still not close to the level that Dwade was at in his prime either.

LL, good post.

And alot of people are putting a lot of words in my mouth that I have never said.

Look- Kyrie Irving is 22- Dwayne Wade is 33. DWade is a 3 time champion. a Finals MVP. A sure fire hall of famer. There is no comparison to look at their careers and it does not even make sense too at this junncture

The only thing I said is that Kyrie Irving has a 57 point game- and at 22 years old- already has put up more points in a game than Dwade did in his entire career. Thats all i said- all this other rubbish from people putting words in my mouth is ridiculous.

Now- pointing out what another poster said- do i think age 22 Kyrie is better than age 22 Dwade? yah probably. Do i think that Kyrie irving is a better fit to play with Lebron, yah, probably. Do I think that these two players will always draw comparisons due to the circumstances of the situation they find themselves in? Of course- its only natural.

Kyrie is the new style NBA point guard. There is still great value in the old style- the John Wall type that passes first- but Kyrie is a great point guardi nhis own right

 

[bksballer89]

Kyrie at 22 is better than Wade at 22.

He's in his 4th year.....22 year old D-Wade was a rookie in the league.

BTW that team made the 2nd round of the playoffs.

But anyway yes Kyrie at 22 is better than D-Wade at 22.

However as Hockey said earlier, D-Wade in his 4th NBA season was better than Kyrie in his 4th NBA season

 

[Hambombs]

Lmao @ kyrie being better than wade in his prime. Just lol

 

[WiggyRuss]

Please. That is beyond homerism.
That is just ridiculous to compare the two.



What Kyrie did will likely never happen again.

With all due respect- thats what people said 6 weeks ago when he went for 55 points, and had a game winning shot at the buzzer against Portland where he broke the Cavs record with 11 three pointers

Many people on here said he could not do it again.

Here we are 6 weeks later, he goes for 57, on the road, against the Spurs of all teams, the team was done 9 with a minute left, an and one, and 2 threes later...is tied, and Kyrie goes on to 57 points- a franchise record - more points than LeBron has even ever scored on the Cavs- on 20/32 shooting

So, while i agree with you thats its highly highly unlikely to say it wont happen again- all we have to do is look back to 6 weeks ago

I will tell you- I never imnagined that Kyrie Irving would have the 2 highest scoring games in the NBA this year....#1 with the 57 last night of course, and #2 against Portland with the 55....that is pretty legit.

After watching that game I am convinced that the Cavs/Spurs would be a classic Finals if we are lucky enough to have it happen. Parker has been tearing it up the last about 2 weeks coming into that game and he for sure did not dissapoint last night. Danny Green getting away from the Cavs still hurts- what a solid role player....Leonard is just a beast...one of the top young players in this game- and maybe the leagues best 2 way player...and Duncan is just Duncan.

 

[hockey878]

Kyrie at 22 is better than Wade at 22.

He's in his 4th year.....22 year old D-Wade was a rookie in the league.

BTW that team made the 2nd round of the playoffs.

But anyway yes Kyrie at 22 is better than D-Wade at 22.

However as Hockey said earlier, D-Wade in his 4th NBA season was better than Kyrie in his 4th NBA season

Yea they did, but he had a reasonable amount of help on that team. He was the 3rd leading scorer.

This is the tough thing about comparing players "at time x" in their careers. Its not fair to compare 22 year old kyrie to 22 year old because Kyrie has been in the NBA for several years. But its also not fair to look at 4 year vet wade to 4 year vet kyrie because of physical/mental maturity process.

But yea I think think these statements are true

 

[hockey878]

Please. That is beyond homerism.
That is just ridiculous to compare the two.

Cleveland got a once in a lifetime performance unlikely to be seen again for a while.
San Antonio got a good night, but it wasnt historic...
And, it was offset by horrible FT shooting. (Greens meaningless 3 FTS salvaged a bad night %)

Kyrie will almost never have a game like that the rest of his career.
The Spurs will shoot 56% versus someone later this month and probably again this year as well.
Heck they came close to AVERAGING that in the playoffs last year.

What Kyrie did will likely never happen again.

Yea kyrie played great, and repeating that is not likely. But you can't just pick all the things good for a team and say "oh this won't happen" and then ignore things that went wrong for that team or right for your team. LeBron played a very mediocre game (for him). KLove was non-existant. the spurs shot the ball really well.

Do we really expect parker to go 15-23 every time they play? probably not huh? especially since you are the one talking about how poorly he has played the past two months. so that was a fluke right?

maybe next time kyrie scores 20 and klove scores 30. maybe LeBron scores 40. Its just dumb to look at a game and say well this was all just a fluke, so if we play again we'll win.

maybe you win next time, maybe you don't. Of course it was once in a lifetime, but its stupid to just discount the game because of that. The game is NOT played in a vacuum, if Kyrie doesn't play that well maybe Klove or LeBron just step up and fill the role.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

LL, good post.

And alot of people are putting a lot of words in my mouth that I have never said.

Look- Kyrie Irving is 22- Dwayne Wade is 33. DWade is a 3 time champion. a Finals MVP. A sure fire hall of famer. There is no comparison to look at their careers and it does not even make sense too at this junncture

The only thing I said is that Kyrie Irving has a 57 point game- and at 22 years old- already has put up more points in a game than Dwade did in his entire career. Thats all i said- all this other rubbish from people putting words in my mouth is ridiculous.

Now- pointing out what another poster said- do i think age 22 Kyrie is better than age 22 Dwade? yah probably. Do i think that Kyrie irving is a better fit to play with Lebron, yah, probably. Do I think that these two players will always draw comparisons due to the circumstances of the situation they find themselves in? Of course- its only natural.

Kyrie is the new style NBA point guard. There is still great value in the old style- the John Wall type that passes first- but Kyrie is a great point guardi nhis own right

With all due respect- thats what people said 6 weeks ago when he went for 55 points, and had a game winning shot at the buzzer against Portland where he broke the Cavs record with 11 three pointers

Many people on here said he could not do it again.

Here we are 6 weeks later, he goes for 57, on the road, against the Spurs of all teams, the team was done 9 with a minute left, an and one, and 2 threes later...is tied, and Kyrie goes on to 57 points- a franchise record - more points than LeBron has even ever scored on the Cavs- on 20/32 shooting

So, while i agree with you thats its highly highly unlikely to say it wont happen again- all we have to do is look back to 6 weeks ago

I will tell you- I never imnagined that Kyrie Irving would have the 2 highest scoring games in the NBA this year....#1 with the 57 last night of course, and #2 against Portland with the 55....that is pretty legit.

After watching that game I am convinced that the Cavs/Spurs would be a classic Finals if we are lucky enough to have it happen. Parker has been tearing it up the last about 2 weeks coming into that game and he for sure did not dissapoint last night. Danny Green getting away from the Cavs still hurts- what a solid role player....Leonard is just a beast...one of the top young players in this game- and maybe the leagues best 2 way player...and Duncan is just Duncan.

6 weeks ago, James didn't play.

I think the freakish thing about both games was the amount, the difficulty, and the shooting % of the 3s that were made.

And, in comparison, there were many, many nights when the Heat Big 3 would combine for 75+ points.
I don't at all think it's a good thing when that much scoring is required from just 2 players.
The result was fools gold.
Like I stated earlier, except for the eventual final score, there wasnt much the Spurs should have been upset about.