The Cleveland Cavaliers dominated the Brooklyn Nets 107-87 on Thursday, closing out a month that featured all sorts of headline-grabbing off-the-court stories, from subtweets, to a Miami trip, to talk of another LeBron James-led super team, to even a publicized breakup.
And after it all, Kyrie Irving offered a reminder of how he continues to view the Cavs’ chances for postseason success.
“Everything surrounding our team is just crazy to think that we’re still in first place and we’re still the team to beat, honestly,” Irving said. “Regardless of what anybody else says of what we need and what we don’t need and what we need to get better at — us, internally, we know that we have to improve on a lot of things, but we’ve just got to handle business as professionals and continue to get better.”
Irving was then asked if he meant that Cleveland was the team to beat in the East or in the entire league, over the likes of the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs.
“I feel like we’re the team to beat,” Irving said. “I mean, honestly, it’s open season until we get into the playoffs, so I have a lot more confidence than I think anyone realizes in our team and what’s going on in our locker room.”
Playing through an illness Thursday, Irving scored 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting and had three assists for the Cavs, who lead the Eastern Conference by 2½ games over the Toronto Raptors.
It was Irving’s breakup with R&B singer Kehlani that received the most attention this week, with Irving acknowledging the split with a series of tweets late Wednesday night, which he later deleted. He was asked if he was having a hard time managing his life away from basketball.
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