Overall. the Cleveland Cavaliers looked good Wednesday night, Dec.28. Not only did they pull off a 105-89 win on the road, six different players scored in the double digits. But, just like the opening game was not clear indication of how the season will go, this game can not accurately predict the future. Despite the solid performance, they did have a bit of a headstart on this team having already faced them twice in the short and rushed preseason.

Regardless, as a fan it was great to see the team, working as a team. The bench truly stole the show from the starters, and no one minded. The depth of the team was great to see.

The bench contributed 56 points, 23 rebounds and 15 assists. While rookie, Tristan Thompson, put up 10 points and four rebounds, it was even better to see Kyrie Irving more comfortable on the court. Irving racked up 14 points, had 7 assists and four rebounds in under 20 minutes of playtime. Some fans were worried about Irving, but he proved his worth Wednesday night against the Pistons. This young recruit needs to acclimate himself to the NBA and his position and it seems he is well on his way. He certainly played more confident.

“It was definitely a different feeling,” Irving said. “Last time I wasn’t really enjoying the game. I love the game so much and the first time I wanted to be so serious, wasn’t joking around, no smile on my face. Tonight, it was about having fun.”

Although the Cavaliers had 21 turnovers, Coach Byron Scott is not complaining. They defended well, kept a handle on the easy baskets and outrebounded the Detroit Pistons, 40-26. Nothing to complain about there.

“On the defensive end, we were so much better, so much more aggressive from start to finish and that’s exactly what we talked about,” Scott said. “When you play defense like we did tonight, it seems like the offense is easy.”

More by Sylvie Branch:

Cavaliers Lose Opener 104-96 Against Toronto Raptors, Does Not Decide Season: Fan Report

Top Five Cleveland Cavaliers Moments of 2011

Cleveland State Part of the Top 25: Fan Reaction

Sylvie Branch is a die-hard Cleveland sports fan who is perpetually holding out for the day her teams do not break her heart!

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CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Kyrie Irving era got off to an inauspicious start Monday at The Q.

But to pin the Cavaliers’ 104-96 loss to the Toronto Raptors on a 19-year-old rookie point guard is roundly unfair, not to mention misleading. Especially on a night the club’s collective effort was bad enough to give it a running start on the No. 1 pick next season.

The Cavaliers defended poorly, shot worse and needed a strong effort from their second unit just to keep them in the game against one of the NBA’s bottom feeders.

Irving, the top selection in the June draft, managed just six points on 2-of-12 shooting and never found his rhythm before a sellout crowd of 20,562 fans. He spent a good portion of the second half on the bench as backup Ramon Sessions helped the Cavaliers stay close with a team-high 18 points and six assists.

“It’s disappointing,” said Irving, who played 26 minutes. “You want to play really well when the whole world is watching. It’s a learning process.”

The point is an unforgiving position for first-year players. Not only did Irving struggle at the offensive end, but he had difficulty keeping the Raptors’ Jose Calderon (15 points, 11 assists) in front of him.

How have other recent high-profile point guards fared in their NBA debuts? According to Stats LLC, Washington’s John Wall had 14 points, Chicago’s Derrick Rose scored 11 points and New Orleans’ Chris Paul collected 13 points.

“He looked OK for what was like his fifth game in a year,” said coach Byron Scott, who named Irving his starter on Monday morning. “He had seven assists and one turnover. The only thing he didn’t do was shoot the ball well.”

While the team won’t admit it, this rebuilding season is about developing youngsters like Irving and Tristan Thompson, who had an impressive debut with 12 points and five rebounds.

Scott subbed Irving for Sessions with 5:28 remaining and the Cavs trailing by eight points. The coach considered sticking with the more-effective player, but gave the kid a chance to play with the game on the line.

“I thought it would be good for the rookie to be out there at that time,” Scott said. “I’ve got to learn about him just like I got to learn about other guys on the team. I know what Sess can do. He did a great job.”

That’s not a sentence that fit many Cavaliers, particularly the starters. Small forward Omri Casspi was 0-of-4 with two points and one rebound in 20-plus minutes. Power forward Antawn Jamison scored 15 points, while shooting 6-of-20 from the field.

The Cavs were 41.2 percent from the floor.

Other than Sessions, Anderson Varejao (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Alonzo Gee (15 points) were the home team’s best players. They can’t be the offensive leaders if the franchise plans to make a run at respectability.

The biggest problem, however, was a familiar one. The Cavaliers were shredded on defense, allowing the Raptors to shoot 53.2 percent, including 9-of-21 from behind the 3-point arc. Scott spent an entire season bemoaning the Cavs’ lack or trust and communication on defense. They were the culprits again on opening night.

“That is the biggest thing to me,” said Scott, who made defending a priority in training camp. “We have to get better on the defensive end. That’s the bottom line.”

The Raptors placed seven players in double figures, led by 15 from Calderon and DeMar DeRozan. Toronto used a 15-2 run early in the second quarter to build a nine-point lead. The Cavs cut the deficit to two points early in the fourth quarter, but that’s as close as they would come.

The team’s best defense of the night might have come after the game in the locker room as they rallied around their rookie point guard.

“I told Young Fella, you’ve just got to be patient,” Sessions said. “You’ve got 65 more [games]. At the end of the game I showed him his assist-to-turnover ratio. The shot is gonna come. But that’s the stat you want when you run the team. He ran the team. Seven assists and one turnover? You’d take that any day of the week.”

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Dec 16, 2011 – The Cleveland Cavaliers will play their first game of the season on Friday night against the Detroit Pistons in a game scheduled to tip off at 6:30 p.m. on NBA TV. Due to the NBA lockout, the only other preseason game the Cavs will play comes next week at home against the Pistons.

The preseason isn’t typically an indicator of too many things, but the one thing to keep an eye on is the point guard position. Cleveland selected Kyrie Irving with the first overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, but reports indicate that veteran guard Ramon Sessions will start the game at the point

Fear The Sword’s Conrad Kaczmarek wrote that he’s going to trust the team’s best judgement when it comes to the Sessions vs. Irving battle.

Truthfully, I have no problem with whoever Scott chooses to start. If he believes that Irving will be better suited off the bench as he learns the PG position in the NBA, then that’s fine with me. Sessions played quite well last season and it may be wise for the Cavaliers to showcase him along with various other veterans (Jamison, Varejao) if they intend to bump up their trade value and get young assets in return. In the long run, however, I believe Irving will be the starter and I expect that to be sooner rather than later.

Maybe Friday night’s game will provide some clarity, but that’s rather doubtful at this early juncture in the season.

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CLEVELAND (AP)

When the Cavaliers selected point guard Kyrie Irving with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, veteran Baron Davis’ future in Cleveland became uncertain.

On Wednesday, his short stay ended.

Using the NBA’s new amnesty clause, the Cavs waived Davis, a move that knocks the $28 million he is owed over the next two seasons off the salary cap. The Cavs will have to pay Davis, but they’ll have more flexibility going forward as they try to improve a team that won just 19 games last year.

Davis was acquired last season in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. Although Cleveland was probably not the destination Davis had in mind, he played hard, seemed to embrace a leadership role and put any past problems between he and Cavs coach Byron Scott behind. The pair had a falling out when Davis played for Scott in New Orleans.

”We would like to thank Baron for his contributions to the team during his time in Cleveland,” said general manager Chris Grant. ”He has been an absolute professional since the day he joined the Cavs and we now wish him the best in the future.”

Davis’ release had been expected since the opening of training camp past week. Scott gave a strong clue that Davis’ time was running out when the coach said he — and not Davis — was the perfect mentor for Irving.

”I’m going to miss Cleveland fans and the organization!” Davis wrote on his Twitter page. ”When I was down and out you believed in me and embraced me! I will always be a Cav!”

With Davis gone, Scott can immediately turn his offense over to Irving, the former Duke standout who wound up with Cleveland after Grant acquired Davis and an unprotected lottery pick from the Clippers for guard Mo Williams and forward Jamario Moon. That pick ended up being the one that got the Cavs the first selection.

Davis averaged 13.9 points and 6.1 assists in 15 games with the Cavs last season. He missed time because of injuries and a family death, but when he was in the lineup Cleveland went 6-9.

The 32-year-old hadn’t practiced since arriving at camp because of a bulging disc in his back. Davis left the team last weekend to get a second opinion on the injury. He’s now a free agent and should draw interest from other teams if he’s healthy.

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The New York Knicks should definitely try to pursue point guard Baron Davis if he becomes available this week. It seems clear that Davis will not stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers for much longer, potentially making him a free agent that the Knicks could sign for the veteran’s minimum.

There are two options that could land Davis in New York for the upcoming season, with the first being that the Cavaliers would use the NBA amnesty clause on him. Cleveland owes Davis just under $14 million this season and would likely have to pay him the nearly $15 million player option for next year. The team could choose to use the amnesty clause to take him off the salary cap and then pursue other free agents. The other option is that Cleveland could simply waive him and save the amnesty clause.

Davis is not the healthiest of guards out there and has been going through some back problems. If he is healthy though, he could become the perfect distributor for the Knicks in the 2011-12 NBA season. He can still score a lot of points in spurts, but would best serve the Knicks as a veteran taking care of the ball and helping get Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire the best shots possible. He would also come very cheap, because the Cavaliers are on the hook for the majority of his salary no matter how it plays out.

Last season for Cleveland, Davis averaged 28.4 minutes per game, putting up 13.1 points and 6.7 assists in those games. With Davis and Mike Bibby splitting time at the position, it would also give the Knicks a lot of depth off the bench. That’s exactly what the team needs after parting with more assets in order to make the Tyson Chandler deal work out.

Even if the Knicks end up making a deal with Jamal Crawford to come in as the starting shooting guard, the team should try its best to bring in Davis as well. With the abridged season, the Knicks have to add depth to the roster, and it has to come from inexpensive contracts. Adding some savvy veterans to the mix of young players off the bench could really give the frontcourt trio of stars the best chance to make it deep into the Eastern Conference Playoffs this year.

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*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a fan of the New York Knicks that has followed the team since the days John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason instilled their defensive will on the rest of the league.

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Not much else going on in the NBA world today.

In the span of a single season the Cleveland Cavaliers went from first to second worst while enduring a 26 game losing streak that could have been 37 games if not for an overtime victory at home over the New York Knicks in mid-December.

The not unexpected result of suddenly losing the best young veteran in the NBA to free agency did have its silver lining. General Manager Chris Grant managed to trade Mo Williams to the Clippers for Baron Davis and an unprotected first round draft pick and the Cavaliers entered the draft lottery with two good chances at selecting first overall.

With a host of prospects on their roster and two top rookies, the Cavaliers enter this season with rebuilding their shattered franchise as their only priority. Every move the team makes now should be future oriented.

#1 Amnesty Baron Davis

Baron Davis has said all the right things heading into training camp. The Cavaliers believe him and are indicating that the most obvious amnesty candidate in the NBA will be on their roster this season.

The rationale for keeping the 32-year-old Davis is simple. The Cavaliers do not have many veterans and Davis can fill the mentor role for the team’s future star Kyrie Irving. Besides, paying Davis $28.6 million to play for someone else over the next two seasons is just too painful for management to contemplate.

There should be no question that Davis can still contribute significantly to a NBA team and he will likely remain on his best behavior in Cleveland. Davis knows his future in the NBA could depend on how he deals with this situation. This just isn’t enough of a reason to hang on to the veteran point guard.

The Cavaliers need to clear salary cap space for future moves and Davis’ contract makes him virtually untradeable. Head coach Bryon Scott is heading into a season where his team will lose a lot of games no matter what he does and Davis is just too tempting a player to have on one’s bench. Unfortunately, Davis is in the way.

The Cavaliers only took on Davis’ salary to net a second high draft pick and won bigger than they had any right to hope for by getting the first overall. The new collective bargaining agreement is providing them an opportunity to expand this win exponentially by freeing up Davis’ salary slot as well. The Cavaliers should amnesty Davis, but that doesn’t mean they will.

#2 Start Kyrie Irving

In a weak draft where several potential lottery picks returned to college, the Cavaliers got the top-rated rookie prospect, and just like last season’s top pick John Wall, Irving needs to start and play as many minutes as he can.

Irving was labeled as a potential NBA All-Star point guard heading into college, and even though injury shortened his college experience, he still retained that expectation. The 19-year-old Irving needs to play through his mistakes and develop his NBA game as quickly as possible. The Cavaliers future hopes are riding on his shoulders and will not be advanced by having Irving watch from the bench or deferring to someone else.

#3 Start Tristan Thompson

In a surprising move, the Cavaliers selected Tristan Thompson fourth overall instead of filling a potential future hole at center with Jonas Valanciunas or an obvious hole at small forward with Kawhi Leonard. Then they made room for Thompson by shipping power forward J.J. Hickson to Sacramento for small forward Omri Casspi and a future first round draft pick. Taking the two moves together, the Cavaliers look like they knew what they were doing.

The 20-year-old power forward’s game is still raw, but he impressed in college with his physical presence, and the Cavaliers have raved about his workouts.

There is no reason to hold Thompson back and nothing could be more important to the Cavaliers long term success than developing a strong chemistry between their two rookies by playing them together as much as possible.

#4 Go after a free agent shooting guard now

This year’s free agent class has a lot of shooting guards, unfortunately the ones the Cavaliers should be most interested in are all restricted free agents. This doesn’t mean the team should sit quietly on the sidelines and just watch. The biggest hole in Cleveland’s line-up is a quality shooting guard who will still be in his prime when the team’s rookies are ready to lead the Cavaliers back to the playoffs.

The best free agent shooting guard for the Cavaliers roster would be Arron Afflalo from Denver, but Afflalo has a long list of suitors and the Nuggets are expected to match almost any offer. Cleveland should still make the attempt.

If Cleveland approached Afflalo with a four-year $30 million offer, they would get his attention and at the very least drive the price up to the point where the Cavaliers could take a more modest run at Denvers’ Gary Forbes. The end game of bidding on Denvers’ restricted free agents could become Wilson Chandler. If Denver is stretched holding onto their free agents now, when Chandler returns from China in March, Cleveland may be one of a very few teams who will have the salary cap space to make a compelling offer.

#5 Let Antawn Jamison’s contract expire

The 35-year-old Antawn Jamison is in the final year of his massive contract and the timing couldn’t be better for the Cavaliers. Unless Cleveland can find a trade partner willing to give up a first round draft pick, inexpensive prospects, and very limited future salary commitments, the team should let Jamison backup Thompson until his salary comes off the books at the end of the season.

If the Cavaliers are not active in free agency now, the team can free up over $30 million in salary cap space for the potentially exciting free agent summer of 2012 by getting both Davis and Jamison off the books.

Jamison has always been a good teammate and consummate professional, there are no reasons to be concerned about having him around on a rebuilding team for one year.

#6 Get a top lottery pick in 2012

No team should tank a season by not trying to win, and if Irving, Casspi, Thompson, Anderson Varejao, a shooting guard, and the Cavaliers prospects are good enough to win games, so be it. This is not what the team should expect however.

The upcoming draft class looks strong and a top 10 pick will significantly help the Cavaliers continue the rebuilding process. Squeezing out extra victories by playing older veterans like Davis, Jamison, or possibly the popular free agent Anthony Parker is not going to speed the return of the team to respectability.

The Cavaliers should be playing for another top lottery pick in 2012.

The moves the Cavaliers should make are not easy ones for an organization to accept or admit to before a season starts. It is painful to eat salary and then watch your team win even fewer games than your low preseason expectations say should happen.

The Cavaliers need to get their two best and most expensive players off the books this season and let the rookies play. This season is just a stepping stone to future success and the future will be closer if the front office can endure the pain of making this season worse than it has to be.

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It is no secret that the Cleveland Cavaliers have a battle facing them with what is left of this season. We have some real talent, but it seems that the Cavs are somewhat like a puzzle that is missing the most critical pieces. With the first game less than a month away, it is time to start thinking about who will likely be the five starters to kick off the Cavs’ 2011-12 NBA season.

For the first game, we will likely see Baron Davis(notes) – given that amnesty does not take him away – starting as point guard. If amnesty “kicks in”, then it will likely be Ramon Sessions(notes) starting. A lot of people want to see Kyrie Irving(notes) starting on day one, but Byron Scott is not the type of coach to do this. He will put experience on the floor first. Joining either Davis or Sessions will be Anthony Parker(notes), Anderson Verejao, Antawn Jamison(notes) and Omri Casspi(notes).

Having Verejao back is definitely nice and will certainly be beneficial. His energy is extreme and he lends a lot to the team.

We have to hope that Davis remains with the team because while he is definitely talented, it is his leadership that the Cavs need more than anything.

Casspi will go with the flow and is not a take control player. This is another reason that we need a leadership player so badly.

Jamison is not the strongest defender, but he is talented offensively. He is also a veteran that can lend some leadership to the team along with Davis.

Anthony Parker is not young anymore, but he still has some good plays in him, as well as experience.

Will the Cavs do better than last season? Well, they really cannot do worse. They have talent, they just need to figure out where to put the talent on the floor. We have a steep, uphill battle for what remains of this season, but if the Cavs are anything, they are fighters. They will continue to fight and play and give the fans something to watch.

R. Elizabeth C. Kitchen was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and still lives there. She was raised a Cavs’ fan and has remained loyal through all of the teams ups and downs. She remains confident that the Cavs will bring home a championship at some point in her life.

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The news surrounding the NBA has been more positive over the last few days, and that could mean the beginning of the 2011-12 season will happen before long. Social media still has speculation of several trades and the latest from Bleacher Report has the Cleveland Cavaliers acquiring a much-needed big man to fill the middle of the lane.

Al Jefferson averaged nearly 19 points and 10 rebounds per game for the Utah Jazz last year, but the team drafted another center this summer and that could spell the end for Jefferson in Utah. Cleveland has some terrific young players on its roster, but lacks a true center and adding Jefferson would give the team some leadership and a center that can help on both ends of the court.

The Cavaliers are still in rebuilding mode after the departure of LeBron James, but making a deal like this would make Cleveland a playoff contender in the Eastern Conference. Both teams need to make some roster moves to improve upon last season’s failures and if Utah can add some help to their back-court from a deal, this trade will make sense for both teams, and that is good news for Jazz and Cavalier fans.

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Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what we are thankful for. Most would not think to think about what athletes we are thankful for, but sports do play a major role in American culture.

There are athletes I have looked up to throughout my life that have helped to shape me as an athlete.

Mark Price

This former Cleveland Cavalier was known for his 3-pointers. The all-star point guard led the team to many great seasons, and he was on the team when I was a kid. He was a major reason I became a Cavs fan as a kid, and I always looked up to him as a player. I went on to play power forward, but my shooting was good and in an indirect way; I thank Mark Price for some of the motivation to gain the skills I have.

LeBron James(notes)

I am thankful for the seasons that he gave the the Cavs. He could have left in a less media-hog fashion, but the seasons he gave us did seem to revive the Cavs’ spirit in this town. Now, even if the Cavs are not winning 60+ games, the fans are recharged and ready to stand behind the team like we do the Browns—no matter what.

Antawn Jamison(notes)

Jamison has really stepped up, especially after you know who decided to make himself Wade’s second half. He has proven that he can make plays and cut through defense just the like the biggest names in basketball. He has done a lot for the Cavs in the last two years, and for that I am thankful. I think he will continue to do a lot for the Cavs and will help guide our new players along, given we even have a season this year.

J.J. Hickson(notes)

I think it was a huge mistake for the Cavs to send Hickson away. He and Jamison had a chemistry and played extremely well together. I think that—well, if we even have a season this year—both Hickson and Jamison could have done some great things on the court. While Hickson is no longer a Cavalier, I am thankful for what he did for the team, especially in that game last season where we finally beat the Heat.

Larry Nance

Larry Nance put up big numbers for the Cavaliers back in the early ’90s and late ’80s. He is another player I looked up to as a child. I remember watching him when I was just 5 and 6 years old. My mom has always been a huge Cavs fans and would watch all of the games, and I would watch with her. Mark Price, Craig Ehlo and Larry Nance were her favorites during my childhood. I was always so impressed with Nance’s athletic ability. He could shoot and he seemed to be able to slide to the hole regardless of how crowded the paint was. He was a rare talent and one that inspired me to play basketball.

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 “…The Cleveland Cavaliers select Kyrie Irving, Point Guard, Duke.”

It hadn’t started out well, but how could it? Not only had he been chosen with the first pick in the NBA draft, he had been chosen by a team that had just endured the roughest offseason-season combo in recent memory. Cleveland had embraced him, but its inhabitants were racked by the trepidations of their own embrace. Expectation was typical for Kyrie Irving. He could handle that. But the resurgence of the hopes and dreams of an entire city? That would be a tougher burden to handle.

Kyrie’s interactions with his teammates were considerably less plagued with struggle and importance. They had embraced him as a sign of hope after the dismal campaign of the previous year. Here was a young, smart kid that just maybe had a chance to get them out of the league’s mockery cellar. Kyrie had been especially surprised by Baron Davis’s constant joviality. He had read the stories about Baron, which painted him as both affable and apathetic. Kyrie only saw the smiling, mentoring side of Baron from the moment he walked into the Cavs’ practice facility.

Baron had been shooting three pointers in the corner, isolated at his own hoop. Kyrie had slowly shifted around, unsure of what do first.

“You gonna pick up a ball, or what?” Baron turned and asked, his beard bristling.

“Yeah.”

“Well, quit waiting. Practice starts in 15 minutes and you need to work on that Duke jumper, Shane Battier.” For whatever reason, Baron took to calling NBA players from Duke “Shane Battier”. Even Grant Hill.

Kyrie strode over past the talking coaches and grabbed a ball. Baron was back to shooting, and Kyrie joined him. A quiet competition began between the two, as neither said anything while each of them swished three pointer after three pointer.  Eventually, Kyrie clanged one off the back of the rim. Baron gave a slight smile.

“You’re gonna need to tighten that form up a little, Shane Battier.”

Kyrie smiled and drained another three.

But Kyrie wasn’t a miracle worker. Cleveland’s season began much in the same vein as before he arrived, with a 6-14 start. The consensus seemed to be he was “doing ok”. “First-year point guards always need to make adjustments. He’s on a bad team, and he’s shown flashes.”, the analysts said. And he wasn’t doing badly. Splitting minutes with Baron and averaging 13 and 6 was no reason for anyone to be upset, at least not yet.

But it wasn’t enough. Kyrie wanted more than individual adequacy.

After a particularly tough loss to the Celtics, 97-73, Kyrie could only feel a sense of numbing fatigue. He sat by his locker with a towel over his head, staring at the carpet. Baron came up to him as Byron Scott finished delivering his message to the team and drifted out of the locker room.

“Get that towel off your head.” Baron stared down at him from a few feet away.

“I’m not bothering anyone,” Kyrie mumbled.

“Get that towel off your head. Come on, kid. You’ve barely played any games and you’re gonna look defeated like this? No, that isn’t you. That can’t be you. This team can’t afford for that to be you.”

Kyrie said nothing for a second and then jumped up. Baron patted him on the back and walked back to his locker.

He had a media interview later that day. He felt a sense of unfocused determination.  At least it was better than drudgery.

“How do you feel about the team so far?” The familiar microphone was pushed into Kyrie’s face.

“We’re not winning games, but this is a group of guys that really care and really try. We’ll figure it out.”

“What about your own play?”

“I can do better, and I will. It’s going to happen, just like it’s going to happen for this team. I’ll let you decide whether or not to write that I’m playing well.”

“How do you feel about the matchup with the Heat coming up?”

“It’s another game, and that means we’re going to do our best to win it. That’s all.”

What else could he say? “The entire city and much of our team will likely view this as some kind of cathartic experience.”? That might be true, but it wasn’t the kind of thing the “face of the franchise” was supposed to say. He knew that, whether or not he agreed with the sentiment. The next game was going to be different, but Kyrie wanted it to be different for the right reasons.

He woke up the morning of the Heat game feeling more invigorated than any other day in his life. At least, that’s what it felt like. His breakfast tasted better, his body felt great, and his mind seemed to vibrate with energy. Everything just felt right. Even Christian Eyenga’s jump shot looked better during practice.

Outside the arena, Clevelanders were already beginning to gather. Even though they had been through this ordeal the year before, the feeling of an important night still permeated in their hearts and minds. Maybe some of the virulence was gone, but the signs and the emotion remained, just as strong as ever.

The team seemed to feel it too, whether or not the casual observer could tell. Kyrie could see it. The intensity and concentration of the team’s eyes as Byron Scott outlined the team’s plan (“Force Wade to shoot, quickly double Bosh, etc.”) translated into Kyrie’s mood as well. This was a big game for him. He was no LeBron, but this was his city now.

From the opening tipoff, it was apparent this game would be different than last year’s. The Heat were confused by the Cavaliers offense. Omri Casspi couldn’t miss a three, Kyrie darted in and out of the lane with the poise of Steve Nash, and Tristan Thompson finally seemed to be coming into his own offensive skillset. “The dunks, they are a clangin”, Bob Dylan would have written. LeBron spent much of the first quarter holding back and distributing the ball. The score went back-and-forth, and the arena grew more and more alive with every basket. There would be no fading in this game. Kyrie wouldn’t allow that. Not tonight.

As he sat at the bench following a 27-27 first quarter, Kyrie made eye contact with a young fan holding a big sign, reading “Cavs, Reborn!” He smiled at Kyrie when he caught his glance and gave him the thumbs up. Kyrie smiled back and knew this game was no longer about beating LeBron for him. This was about the Cavs.

The second quarter followed the path of the first, and the Cavaliers went into the locker down 51-50. The fans cheered them as they exited towards the locker room.

Byron Scott repeated his mantra of consistent play to the team, pleading with them to keep doing what they were doing. Everyone nodded. Kyrie stood up when he finished.

“Listen up for a second. You know how I’ve been saying this is just another game? I was lying. You know that, I know that.

A series of small nods went out around the room.

“We all know this game is important. Our fans have their reasons, and we have our reasons. But this game, this game tonight? It isn’t about LeBron. It shouldn’t be. He’s gone. This is the 2011 Cleveland Cavaliers, not the 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers. This team isn’t a museum. We’re more than that. This game is about us. That’s all it’s about. Yes, we need to win the game, but not to show LeBron. Not to vindicate anyone’s opinion. No, we need to win this game to show us, to show our fans, that the past is over. The future is in this arena tonight. It’s me, it’s you, and it’s them. It’s not for anything. It is something. We’ll make it ours.”

Teeth clenched involuntarily around the room. They agreed.

“Let’s go out there.”

The team clapped, rose up, and broke out of the locker room.

To say the team came out in the third quarter energized would be a gross understatement. “Deranged” or “insane” would be more fitting. At one point, Kyrie could have sworn he watched Anderson Varejao try to claw Mario Chalmers in an attempt to grab a loose ball.

And for a moment, the Cavs pulled ahead by 7. Of course, the Heat soon went on a predictable run and tied the game on a Joel Anthony semi-dunk, just before the end of the third quarter.  78-78. Kyrie had so far performed well, with 15 points and 8 assists. But not well enough. The fourth quarter would be his, and he knew it.

What happened next would become part of Cleveland sports’ lore. Just as Bird and Magic once had gone basket for basket, LeBron and Kyrie now squared off on a much seemingly smaller scale. Never had Kyrie seemed faster and more dynamic than in that 4^th quarter. The question was not whether he would finish at the basket, it was how. But LeBron was not so easily outplayed. And so he returned Kyrie’s offensive explosion, layup against layup, fadeaway against fadeaway. The crowd roared and cried with every Kyrie make and every LeBron return. Many would claim, months and years later, that the building shook that night. The Q had taken on a life of its own, on the shoulders of Irving. And he loved every second of it.

All of this pageantry left the ball in LeBron’s hands at the top of the key with 30 seconds remaining, the Heat down by 1. He resolutely stared down the defender before him, dribbling up and down, up and down. Suddenly, he darted past a straining Cassipi. Kyrie watched helplessly as LeBron flew into the lane, jumped, and dunked over a desperate Anderson Varejoa. The Q’s groan was palpable, as the ball dropped from the net onto the hardwood beneath. Irving turned to the ref, collected his bearings, and called the Cavs’ last 30-second timeout. 8 seconds left. More than enough time, he thought. Or just enough.

Kyrie bent over ever so slightly in the huddle. Coach Scott was drawing up a play hurriedly. Kyrie would feign left, drive right, and hit a hopefully open Casspi off of an elbow screen. Kyrie nodded. He was in control.

This was always his favorite moment. The grip of the ball as he moved down the court, the control that permeated through his being as his feet followed. It always just felt right. But tonight, the surroundings weren’t his. The ball didn’t belong him; it belonged to every screaming fan in the rejuvenated arena. This was their night. For him, it felt like the first night in a series of nights that would end with him exhausted and inexorably satisfied on a team plane, whether or not the play ultimately worked.

Kyrie had been in moments like this before, but he knew this would be different. As he moved onto the court, he once again made eye contact with the young fan. This time, Kyrie gave the thumbs up, and the young fan let out a nervous smile.

Kyrie caught the inbounds pass and glanced up at the clock one last time. 7.8 seconds left. His mind flashed. Kyrie quickly mapped out his path as he dribbled. He waited for a moment, and drove. The feign worked perfectly, as he evaded the double team momentarily and bolted into the lane, a defender close behind. Where was Casspi? He noticed him caught behind the screen as he glanced. But there was no time to wait. He skirted past Chalmers towards the open basket, nothing between him and a final lay-in.

That’s when he noticed a hard charging LeBron moving into his vision, just as Irving jumped towards the basket. Together they rose into the air, a portrait of basketball, past, present, and future. Cameras flashed as they rose together for the final time that night. LeBron’s hand rose into the air as he released that final floater. Kyrie watched as LeBron swatted. It appeared for a fragment of a second that LeBron would deflect the ball just enough to ensure another Heat victory. But he missed, by such a small margin it seemed impossible that he had missed at all. Kyrie only heard the bounce of the ball off the backboard as LeBron fell onto him, 260 pounds of muscle crushing his small frame.

But the crowd could see. And they cheered.

Kyrie knew he was home.

Not much else going on in the NBA world today.

We haven’t quite reached the point in Scott Raab’s, The Whore of Akron, when LeBron James decides to spurn Cleveland fans and, in effect, become “The Whore of Akron.”

But we have read Raab’s observations that LeBron ruled the Cleveland Cavaliers’ throne like a rightful king.

Decisions went through him. Everyone knew it. Including his fearful owner.

Let’s begin with the team’s general manager, Danny Ferry. After listening to a Ferry press conference about the team’s acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal, Raab observed this:

“Truth 1: The Cavs are essentially owned by LeBron. The beat writers who cover the team clearly believe this – and they are a vastly more accurate gauge of reality than anything Ferry’s likely to say.”

“Truth 2: Danny Ferry is so resentful of Truth 1 that he’d prefer not to acknowledge it.”

Ferry wasn’t the only one acting in deference to the team diva. Raab sat down with the team’s owner, Dan Gilbert, to share his feelings on a worrisome pattern he’d noticed in Cavaliers coach Mike Brown. To which Gilbert agreed.

“I’m worried about Mike Brown,” Raab said to Gilbert. “I’m tired of hearing him say how honored he is to coach LeBron. Gilbert winces, ‘I don’t like hearing that either,’ [Gilbert] says.” 

The idea that LeBron didn’t listen to his coach or care for what Brown had to say has only been amplified by Shaquille O’Neal’s upcoming book. An excerpt from Shaq Uncut notes that Brown often failed to call out his star player when the tape proved otherwise. 

Which led to teammate Delonte West telling Brown to stop “pussyfooting around” and that “everyone has to be accountable.”

The information trickling out shouldn’t really shock anyone. Wherever LeBron goes, he’s treated like a mythical being. What made you think Cleveland would be any different?

But these revelations beg more questions. One, has Pat Riley found a way to curb LeBron’s actions? And, two, how could Mike Brown’s career with the Los Angeles Lakers possibly fare well with a dominant personality like Kobe Bryant?

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What do you guys think about this.

INDEPENDENCE — The uncertainty of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season could affect the city’s finances.

How much of an effect will likely be determined by how long the labor dispute lasts. Negotiations are ongoing between the owners and the players association. Due to the player lock-out, the NBA has postponed training camps which were scheduled to start today and canceled pre-season games for Oct. 9-15.

So far, the city has not seen any impact from the player lockout. The cancellation of Cleveland Cavaliers pre-season games will have minimal impact on the city, Kurtz said.

“We are blessed in Independence to have a very diversified tax base where we do not rely on any single taxpayer for a majority of our revenue. We have benefited tremendously by having the Cleveland Cavaliers as a corporate partner, but they still accounted for less than two percent of our Municipal Income Tax Revenue in 2010,” Kurtz said.

The Cavs are second only to Cleveland Clinic in the amount of taxes paid to the city, according to the list included in Kurtz’ Sept. 23 administrative update. As of that date, the team paid $326,664 in income taxes to the city. That is down by $40,436 from the same date the year before.

According to the agreement with the Cavaliers, the city receives 50 percent of the income taxes from home games during the season, Kurtz said. That amount varies according to the team’s roster and how different players are paid.

See more Independence news at cleveland.com/independence.

Contact Ketchum at (216) 986-5861.

Not much else going on in the NBA world today.