Since LeBron James left Cleveland, the Cavaliers have been in need of their next franchise-star. So then they drafted Kyrie Irving back in June as their number one overall pick and, so far, they have had no regrets.Irving starred last night, as he earned MVP honors during the Rising Stars challenge. Irving put up 34 points, nine assists, and was eight-of-eight from three-point range as he led Team Chuck over Team Shaq, 146-133.
Despite no one played the least bit of defense, it was still pretty good for Irving and we got a taste of what he can really provide. Along with Team Chuck, Paul George added in 23 points.
Irving has never seen himself got so hot from the field.
"No, it's never occurred in my career," he said. "You know, it's kind of unfortunate that it comes in the All-Star game. These stats don't carry over into the season. But at the end of the day, it was still fun to get out there with those talented guys. So it was a great experience."
For Team Shaq, Tristan Thompson led with 20 points. Norris Cole had 18. However, for Jeremy Lin, he only could produce two points and struggled, but he did hook up for a nice alley-oop with Blake Griffin earlier in the match-up.
The Rising Stars Challenge was much different than last year. Instead of having a full sophomore-team against a rookie-team, this year was a mix with Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal drafting their players.
Even though there was no defense, like I mentioned earlier, it was still fun to watch. It was kind of like a mini dunk contest with George, Griffin, and Wall displaying their skills along with several big plays and passes.
"It's what All-Star games are, there's not a lot of defense," Team Chuck co-head coach Maurice Cheeks said.
"There were a lot of dunks," Team Shaq co-head coach Ron Adams said. "I think the guys had fun. I hope we didn't set a Guinness Book of World Records record for dunks given, but it was a fun game. Interesting game."
It was a fun game. Tonight, we get to see more as the Skills competition and the Dunk Contest will be held. I look forward to it.
And once again, congrats to Kyrie Irving!
