For the first time in the current NBA season the vaunted Cleveland Cavaliers trio of LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving were humming together like a well-oiled machine in their team’s game on January 30 en route to a 101-90 convincing victory over the reeling Sacramento Kings.
During the off-season, the trio were touted to be the next set of triumvirate that shall make a run for the NBA championship the same way that the Miami Heat was in the last four seasons with the triple threat from James, Dywane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
For some reasons however, James, Love and Irving were not in the same page in most of the Cavaliers’ games during the first half of the season. There was inconsistency with their respective production and if one of them is hitting in all cylinders, the other two are just playing so-so.
That was the reason why almost mid-way to the season, the highly-touted Cleveland Cavaliers was still sporting a losing record.
One of the hottest teams in the NBA
But not anymore as the Cavs are on a nine-game winning streak, which is the franchise best since 2010 when the team won 13 straight games. They are only second to the amazing Atlanta Hawks who are on a franchise-best 18-game winning streak.
The trio of James, Love and Irving combined for 63 of the total team points of 101 and thus excited the Cleveland Cavaliers’ fans to no end, cites MSN Sports from an AP report.
James missed the game against the Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday because of a sprained right wrist but his absence was hardly felt with the 55-point explosion of Kyrie Irving during that match.
Prior to the game, he asked team doctors if he can play. The doctors said it is his call so he decided to play even though his wrist is still not 100 percent.
Sizzling shooting
But his wrist seemed to be okay especially when he made five consecutive shots in the second half. He was 7 of 16 from the field and tallied for 19 markers in 33 minutes of action on the floor.
James got injured when he fell hard to the floor on January 27 during Cleveland’s game against Detroit. But he still managed to finish the game with 32 points.
The following day became Kyrie Irving’s day with that 55-point burst and James decided to sit the game out. He said that his wrist was too stiff that he could not get much rotation on it.
The Cavaliers main man got treatment all day on Thursday and during the Friday shootaround, he said his wrist was already feeling better.
Cleveland is now sporting a 28-20 win loss record, second in the Central Division and fifth overall in the Eastern Conference. There is still long ways to go for the Cavaliers to live up to its billing as one of the prohibitive favorites to go deep into the NBA playoffs, even to the NBA Finals.
But then, the Cavaliers trio needs to be humming all the time for the team to reach that lofty stature.