Game #22 Recap: Cavaliers 91, Mavericks 88

Go ahead and add another huge clutch basket to Kyrie Irving's resume. The kid did it again with the game on the line Saturday night against the defending world champs. With the Cavaliers holding on to a one-point lead, Kyrie was isolated against Delonte West and drove to the basket to make a nifty reverse layup in traffic, putting Cleveland up by three with just a few seconds remaining. The layup forced the Mavericks to take an off-balanced three to try to tie and ultimately sealed the 91-88 win for the Cavs.

Cavs Leaders: Points: Irving, 20; Rebounds: Varejao, 17; Assists: Sessions, 8

Quick Thoughts:

Kyrie simply bolstered his case to be an all-star this year with another dazzling performance late in the game. After starting 0-5 from the field, Irving finished the game 9-12 to end up with 20 points, 7 assists, 4 boards, 2 steals, and just one turnover.

The Cavs actually did an okay job on Dirk Nowitzki. He scored his points, but so many of them were on tough, off-balanced shots. I'm not ready to say that Antawn Jamison's defense has been decent this year, but it's been relatively less than god-awful.

Alonzo Gee is continuing to impress me. I believe he can really turn into a viable role player on a very good team. He has great athleticism and his jumpshot is much improved. His instincts and basketball IQ are not where we want them to be yet, but he's got really good potential.

Fear The Sword's Player Of The Game:

It's basically a two-horse race every single night. This time, I'm giving it to Kyrie for his play down the stretch. The reference to No. 6 in Miami is just too easy to make. Irving shows up in the 4th quarter every night and once again closed out a game in his very young career. I have no problem giving this to Anderson Varejao, who once again was a total beast and grabbed 17 rebounds to go along with 17 points.