Boston coach Doc Rivers voted for Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving to make the All-Star team — and that was before Irving dropped 40 points on the Celtics, 19 points in the first quarter and 15 in the fourth, to lead Cleveland to a 95-90 win Tuesday night at The Q.
Asked after the game if Irving deserved to be an All-Star — the reserves are selected by their conference coaches and will be announced Thursday night — Rivers said, “Absolutely.
“It’s amazing how hard that was, though. A guy with 10 wins, well, 11, it’s a hard one for me. But he’s just playing so well. I think it’s going to be close, though. I think it will be very close for him. I don’t do that very often, I can tell you that. Maybe it was the Duke love.”
Rivers’ son, Austin, followed Irving at Duke, and is now a rookie with the New Orleans Hornets. Doc Rivers got to know Irving when the two young guards were playing on the AAU circuit, and he was one of Irving’s biggest promoters when the Cavs were considering making him the No. 1 pick in the draft two years ago.
In that same draft, the Cavs took Tristan Thompson at No. 4. Thompson added a season-high 21 points and nine rebounds for the Cavs on Tuesday as the Class of 2011 contributed almost two-thirds of the Cavs’ points.
Cavs coach Byron Scott said it’s not too much to ask of the two to have a similar impact on a nightly basis.
After all, it was that potential that led the Cavs to pick them that high.
“I think both those guys are very capable of having an impact on the game every single night,” Scott said after his team improved to 11-32. “I think they would say that. I expect them to say that.”
What everyone has come to expect is Irving driving to the hole with reckless abandon time after time when the game is on the line. He made four layups and three free throws in the final 2:31, including a bizarre play when Boston point guard Rajon Rondo tried to chase down a loose ball and save it by throwing it off Irving under the Cavs’ basket, only to have Irving grab the ball and lay it up with 2:05 left.
“Obviously, you don’t throw the ball to Kyrie, but my question to our team was, ‘Where was everyone else?’ ” Rivers said. “Rondo went from under the basket to under the basket. When he saved the ball, there was no one to save it to.”
But Irving saved the day for the Cavs again. This time, he had help from Thompson; from rookie Tyler Zeller, who had 10 rebounds, six points and three blocked shots before fouling out; from Luke Walton, who had seven points and seven assists; and from the Cavs’ defense, which limited the Celtics to 38 percent shooting (32-of-84) and forced 18 turnovers.
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