When he learned he had played a career high in minutes Tuesday night, Kyrie Irving gave a slight fist pump and flashed a small grin. Turns out, Irving has been as anxious as the eager fans who have been clamoring for him to play more minutes.
In part because of a backcourt hit hard by injuries, Irving played nearly 38 minutes in the loss to the Boston Celtics. The more he plays, the more difficult coach Byron Scott is finding it to keep him off the floor.
In a surprise to no one, Irving was named the Eastern Conference’s Rookie of the Month on Wednesday. He averaged 18.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists in games in December and January. He led all rookies in scoring, field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage, free-throw percentage and assists.
Irving beat out three guards for the award — Brandon Knight of the Detroit Pistons, Norris Cole of the Miami Heat and MarShon Brooks of the New Jersey Nets. Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month. Irving and Rubio are already considered the frontrunners for the Rookie of the Year award.
“If you look at his last five to six games, he’s played great,” said Scott, who continues to emphasize Irving’s defense more than his scoring. “After the first quarter [Tuesday] he played much better defensively. We keep harping on him and he’s getting better and better each day. The more we play, the better he’ll get. We’re harping on the total package, not just the great offensive things he does. We want the total package.”
Scott has been much tougher on his prized rookie than some of his colleagues. Celtics coach Doc Rivers praised Irving for taking the game over in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s thrilling victory and said he willed the Cavs to victory.
Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who rarely compliments players on other teams, gushed over Irving, calling him “spectacular” and the Cavs the league’s most improved team.
“His approach, demeanor, the way he does everything,” Thibodeau said. “He uses both hands, he finishes strong, he can shoot, plays with poise. He reads screens extremely well. He plays with pace. He’s very, very impressive. And the intensity in which he plays, I think it helps set the tone for the team.”
Scott has been much harsher in his evaluations, which is only natural. He’s around Irving every day and sees his flaws a little easier than most. And besides, he doesn’t want the rookie getting too big of a head too quickly.
When a reporter recently asked a question regarding the Cavs being Irving’s team, Scott quickly corrected him and said the Cavs aren’t Irving’s team.
“I’m his coach and I know he still has a long way to go,” Scott said. “It’s easy for an outsider to see him in a game and say he’s one of the best point guards in the league, but I see him every day and I know there are a lot of things he still has to improve on at both ends. But do I think that he has the potential of being a great player in this league and being an All-Star? Absolutely.”
Irving’s minutes have steadily increased this season, and Scott seems comfortable playing him about 30 minutes a night now. His 576 minutes this season are about twice as many as he played all last season at Duke — and the Cavs still have 47 more games to go.
“I wanted to play more minutes, but it’s a coaching decision I’m behind,” Irving said. “I really understand what Coach Scott was doing by having me work my way up in minutes.”
Injury report
Anthony Parker (back), Daniel Gibson (neck) and Tristan Thompson (ankle) remain listed as day-to-day, so the Cavs recalled Luke Harangody from their Development League team in Canton.
Gibson rejoined the team Wednesday after spending two nights in a Boston hospital with an infection in his neck, but the team has offered few details about how Gibson was injured.
This is a bad time for the Cavs to be so short-handed. They play the struggling Orlando Magic on Friday, then return home to face the defending-champion Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. Next week, the Cavs must face the Los Angeles Clippers and Miami Heat.
“It’s a tough stretch, especially with the guys we don’t have,” Scott said. “Anytime you play teams of this caliber, we’d love to have everyone healthy and raring to go, but that might not be the case.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ. Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
