When Kyrie Irving returned this season, he struggled shooting mightily. In his first four games, Irving averaged 13 points on 34% shooting and 25% from downtown. He also added just 1.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 21.6 minutes per game. There was no doubt Irving would eventually get his legs under him and shoot the ball better; the only question was when that would happen.
Irving didn’t make the All-Star team and surprisingly didn’t get much better as the season went on. Irving averaged 19 points on 46.4% from the field and 29.5% from downtown in 29 minutes before the All-Star break, but averaged 20.3 points on 43.4% from the field and 34% from downtown in 33 minutes per game after the All-Star break.
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Irving felt disrespected throughout the regular season due to how defenses were playing him. His struggles made it all the more frustrating. Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY reported on Irving and his thoughts.
Irving said he when he returned in December, he noticed teams going under screens on the high pick-and-roll, daring him to shoot three-pointers.
“It was more or less a disrespect thing for me,” Irving said. “But, I wasn’t shooting it particularly well. The percentage didn’t say that I was shooting it well. But, I didn’t care. It was going to come.
“I’m not going to ever stop shooting or being who I am. These guys want me to shoot, especially if they’re going under my pick-and-rolls. It’s just continuing to prepare, prepare, prepare and trust my shot, and the regular season didn’t really matter. It’s this season that matters. I just want to continue to try to feed off these guys, and when they pass me the ball, be ready to shoot.”
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Aside from the Atlanta game where Irving scored 35 points on 14-28 shooting as the Cavs clinched the number one overall seed, Irving did not close the regular season out as well as he would have liked to. He had multiple bad shooting efforts including a 6-22 against Brooklyn, 9-23 against Houston, 4-14 against Brooklyn, 5-23 against Atlanta, and 5-17 against Chicago all spanning in the final eight games of the regular season.
“I was really pissed off and disappointed in myself with the way I played in that Chicago game, especially the environment that we were in, and how much it meant for us to get that No. 1 seed wrapped up before we went back home to play Atlanta,” Irving said.
“I didn’t play particularly well in the fourth quarter. I still remember it. Obviously it’s still fresh in my memory. So, that game really stuck in my head and really meant something.
“To have the confidence of the guys next to me, and continue to expect greatness out of me, and every single game, they expect me to play at a high level, so just wanted to give them that.”
Whether he’s shooting 25% of 65% from the field, Irving’s teammates have that confidence with every shot Irving takes. That confidence has helped Irving translate a stellar performance into the postseason, as he finished the first round against Detroit averaging 27.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.3 steals on 47.1% from the field and 47.1% from downtown. He also averaged a whopping 10 field goals made and four three pointers made per game, so his teammates clearly looked for him to lead them offensively at times.
Irving showed exactly why he was able to go off on the Pistons, who went under a ton of screens in the series and got burned by Irving pretty often.
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Aside from the shooting, Irving averaged just 1.5 turnovers per game after coughing the ball up and average of 2.3 times per game during the regular season, so Irving stepped his game up in every aspect and it showed as the Cavs swept through the first round. A player of Irving’s clutch caliber and style was built for the postseason, and he can finally show that to the world if he can stay healthy.
Look for Irving to continue his postseason success when the Cavs resume their second round matchup on Monday.