For one frozen moment, all the air was sucked out of The Q on Tuesday night.
The Cavaliers’ young phenom, Kyrie Irving, had the ball at the top of the key facing the Lakers mega-star, Kobe Bryant, and all 19,172 fans in attendance held their breaths in anticipation. For 20 seconds, Irving feinted left, then right, then back and forth, before putting up a 10-foot shot … that Bryant promptly blocked.
Fans finally exhaled but it was less of a groan and more of a sigh of appreciation.
In the scheme of things, the play in the middle of the third quarter meant nothing in the Cavaliers’ 100-94 victory. But it’s the thing everyone who was there will remember — including Irving and Bryant.
“Me and my teammates were talking about it,” said Irving, who returned after missing 11 games with a fractured left index finger and led the Cavs with 28 points and a season-high 11 assists. “It just really reminded me of when Allen Iverson was playing against Michael Jordan. The whole crowd sat up. I got my shot blocked, but it was still a memorable moment for me, just seeing the crowd reaction. I was surprised myself.”
Said Bryant, who led the Lakers with a season-high 42 points, “When we were matched up at the top of the floor, yeah, I could feel the whole building kind of get behind that. Defensively I tried to take a stand. He’s a fantastic, fantastic, fantastic player.”
C.J. Miles had a season-high 28 points for the Cavs, but he wanted no part of that play.
“Everybody on the floor was just watching them play — and nobody had any intention of getting the ball in that play,” said Miles, who started at shooting guard as rookie Dion Waiters missed his fifth straight game with a sprained left ankle. “You knew he was going to shoot it, and you knew Kobe was going to do his best to stop it.
“Kind of like one of those things you’re waiting for it to happen, you want that moment to happen. And it’s just great to see some guys who compete so hard go against each other.”
Without Irving the past three weeks, the Cavs had been competing hard with nothing to show for it. Tuesday’s victory snapped a five-game losing streak as the team improved to 5-17. Afterward, coach Byron Scott talked about Irving, Miles, Anderson Varejao’s 20 points and nine rebounds, Tristan Thompson’s 10 rebounds and Alonzo Gee making things tough on Bryant.
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