Final
Cavs' Irving scores 55 with LeBron out
Jan 29, 2015 - 5:01 AM Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Kyrie Irving started ice cold, missing his first seven shots.Hours later, his coach was asked to describe a performance he said was unlike anything he'd ever seen.
"We just ran some stuff for our hot player," said David Blatt, "and he delivered."
Irving piled up a career-high 55 points with an injured LeBron James cheering from the sideline and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 99-94 on Wednesday night for their eighth consecutive win.
Irving electrified Quicken Loans Arena by making a team-record 11 3-pointers, the last of them coming with 6.4 seconds left to give the Cavaliers the lead for good.
His 55 points were the most ever scored by a Cavaliers player at home and one shy of James' franchise-record 56 in a game in Toronto on March 20, 2005.
The fourth-year point guard almost single-handedly extended Cleveland's winning streak.
Timofey Mozgov added 12 points, including two key free throws late in the game, but Kevin Love went scoreless after getting 10 in the first quarter and J.R. Smith was the only other Cavs player in double digits with 11.
All of it came with James on the sideline because of a sprained right wrist he suffered Tuesday against Detroit, which could keep him sidelined for at least one more game.
The Cavs improved to 2-8 this season without the four-time NBA MVP in the lineup.
Irving went 17-of-29 after missing his first seven shots over the opening 10 1/2 minutes of the game. He scored 28 points in the first half and had 16 in the fourth quarter to keep the Cavs from giving away a game they led by 14.
"I've seen a lot of great performances, but something quite like that? No," Blatt said. "I've never seen that. And I've been coaching a long time."
LaMarcus Aldridge had 38 points to lead Portland, including two free throws that tied the score with 27.6 seconds remaining.
Following a timeout, Irving buried his final shot over 6-foot-8 Nicolas Batum to give Cleveland the lead and break C.J. Miles' franchise record for 3s in a game.
"I tried to contest it, but he made a big shot," said Batum. "He had a big night and that was a big shot."
Irving then grabbed the rebound after Damian Lillard was short on a 3 from the right corner at the other end and made two foul shots for the last of his 55 points.
His previous career high was 44 points in an overtime loss to Charlotte on April 5 last year.
Miles' Cavaliers record lasted barely a year. He made 10 against Philadelphia on Jan. 7, 2014.
"I feel like the pace that I'm playing with right now is getting me a lot of open looks, especially in transition and pulling up for the 3-point shot," said Irving.
Cleveland has won eight in a row for the first time since an eight-game streak March 8-24, 2010, which was James' last season with Cleveland before he left to play for Miami.
Portland had an extra day off after Monday's scheduled game in Brooklyn was postponed Monday night because of a snow storm.
The Blazers hadn't played since a 103-96 win over Washington on Saturday night, when Aldridge scored 26 points after deciding to put off having surgery on a torn ligament in his left thumb, an injury that was expected to sideline the star big man between six and eight weeks.
Batum returned after missing a game with a wrist injury and scored seven points. Lillard had 14, Wesley Matthews scored 11 and Chris Kaman had a game- high 13 rebounds for Portland.
Game Notes
The Cavs recalled guard Joe Harris from Canton of the NBA Development League but he didn't play ... Love was 3-for-15 but pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds ... The Cavs lost in Portland on Nov. 4. Wednesday's win was just their second in the last nine meetings ... The Blazers face Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta on Friday ... The Cavs host Sacramento on Friday.
- PORTLAND: 94
CLEVELAND: 99
Final
Jan 28 9:30 PM - 253
rootsRUWTbot Added 11 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 92, Cavaliers 92 4th - 1:16Jan 28 9:19 PM - 242
rootsRUWTbot Added 32 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 90, Cavaliers 88 4th - 2:54Jan 28 9:17 PM - 210
rootsRUWTbot Took away 32 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 90, Cavaliers 87 4th - 3:52Jan 28 9:12 PM - 242
rootsRUWTbot Added 39 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 87, Cavaliers 87 4th - 4:34Jan 28 9:10 PM - 203
rootsRUWTbot Took away 32 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 84, Cavaliers 87 4th - 4:58Jan 28 9:09 PM - 235
rootsRUWTbot Added 13 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 84, Cavaliers 85 4th - 6:00Jan 28 9:03 PM - 222
rootsRUWTbot Added 33 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 84, Cavaliers 85 4th - 6:33Jan 28 9:03 PM - 189
rootsRUWTbot Took away 16 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 82, Cavaliers 85 4th - 7:00Jan 28 9:02 PM - 205
rootsRUWTbot Added 29 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 82, Cavaliers 83 4th - 7:37Jan 28 9:00 PM - 176
rootsRUWTbot Took away 12 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 79, Cavaliers 83 4th - 9:08Jan 28 8:55 PM - 188
rootsRUWTbot Added 13 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 79, Cavaliers 81 4th - 9:53Jan 28 8:55 PM - 175
rootsRUWTbot Added 13 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 79, Cavaliers 81 4th - 10:09Jan 28 8:54 PM - 162
rootsRUWTbot Added 7 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 76, Cavaliers 81 4th - 10:31Jan 28 8:53 PM - 155
rootsRUWTbot Added 12 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 74, Cavaliers 79 4th - 11:15Jan 28 8:52 PM - PORTLAND: 74
CLEVELAND: 79
End of 3rd
Jan 28 8:47 PM - 143
rootsRUWTbot Added 32 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 74, Cavaliers 79 3rd - 0:05Jan 28 8:46 PM - 111
rootsRUWTbot Took away 11 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 72, Cavaliers 79 3rd - 0:25Jan 28 8:46 PM - 122
rootsRUWTbot Added 31 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 72, Cavaliers 76 3rd - 1:10Jan 28 8:44 PM - 91
rootsRUWTbot Took away 24 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 70, Cavaliers 76 3rd - 1:23Jan 28 8:43 PM - 115
rootsRUWTbot Added 28 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 70, Cavaliers 74 3rd - 1:45Jan 28 8:43 PM - 87
rootsRUWTbot Took away 17 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 67, Cavaliers 74 3rd - 1:59Jan 28 8:42 PM - 104
rootsRUWTbot Added 35 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 67, Cavaliers 71 3rd - 2:26Jan 28 8:42 PM - 69
rootsRUWTbot Took away 28 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 65, Cavaliers 71 3rd - 2:42Jan 28 8:41 PM - 97
rootsRUWTbot Added 35 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 65, Cavaliers 69 3rd - 2:58Jan 28 8:41 PM - 62
rootsRUWTbot Took away 19 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 62, Cavaliers 69 3rd - 3:33Jan 28 8:38 PM - 81
rootsRUWTbot Added 16 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 62, Cavaliers 67 3rd - 3:57Jan 28 8:37 PM - 65
rootsRUWTbot Took away 7 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 60, Cavaliers 67 3rd - 4:12Jan 28 8:37 PM - 72
rootsRUWTbot Took away 9 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 60, Cavaliers 65 3rd - 5:40Jan 28 8:32 PM - 81
rootsRUWTbot Added 19 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 60, Cavaliers 63 3rd - 7:02Jan 28 8:30 PM - 62
rootsRUWTbot Took away 20 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 57, Cavaliers 63 3rd - 7:42Jan 28 8:29 PM - 82
rootsRUWTbot Added 18 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 57, Cavaliers 61 3rd - 8:16Jan 28 8:28 PM - 64
rootsRUWTbot Added 7 roots (Individual Performance)
Trail Blazers 53, Cavaliers 61 3rd - 8:52Jan 28 8:27 PM - PORTLAND: 44
CLEVELAND: 54
Halftime
Jan 28 8:04 PM - PORTLAND: 21
CLEVELAND: 31
End of 1st
Jan 28 7:34 PM - PORTLAND: 0
CLEVELAND: 0
1st Quarter - 12:00
Jan 28 7:11 PM
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