All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving took the microphone before the Cavaliers’ season finale against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night at The Q and announced, “This is all about the fans.”
Then, for the first time in a week, the Cavs played as if the game actually meant something. As a result, they gave fans what they really wanted on Fan Appreciation Night — a 114-85 victory. No amount of T-shirts, lottery tickets or other trinkets meant as much.
Tyler Zeller had 22 points, Dion Waiters added 19 and Irving finished with 15 as the Cavs finished the season 33-49 — avoiding 50 losses for the first time in four years.
Andray Blatche had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Marcus Thornton added 20 for the short-handed Nets, who dropped to 44-38 and the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Among those missing in action for Brooklyn were stars Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Joe Johnson and Deron Williams, former All-Stars all.
But this night was all about the Cavs and restoring the fans’ faith. After stumbling through two ugly losses to Milwaukee and Charlotte after being eliminated from the playoffs last week, coach Mike Brown was worried that would be the last impression this team left.
“You don’t want the season — or the last two-thirds of the season, maybe — lost on what happened these last two or three games because there are a lot of positive things on both sides of the ball — especially defensively for us — that have occurred as of late,” Brown said before the game. “I don’t want the guys in the locker room to look at these last two or three games as a summation of our season because it’s definitely not.”
In a free-and-easy second half, it was easy to remember the best moments of the season and visualize the tantalizing promise of what might have been — or what could still be. There was Irving, driving to the hole, Waiters draining 3-pointers, and even rookie Anthony Bennett with a monster dunk that brought his teammates up off the bench cheering. There seemed to be a genuine sense of joy — and relief — at finishing off the season ”the right way,” as Brown is so fond of saying.
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