Cavs' Kyrie Irving works on shot after blowout loss
CLEVELAND – It was almost an hour after the Atlanta Hawks knocked out with Cleveland Cavaliers, 127-98, and Cavs All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, still in his game uniform plus a long-sleeved shooting shirt, was on the court working on his game.
"Just getting extra shots up," Irving said when he stopped in a hallway to meet with reporters who watched some of his postgame workout.
Teammate LeBron James, who is no stranger to late-night gym sessions, watched a few minutes of Irving's workout with assistant coaches and talked with Irving before leaving the arena. They were smiling, so there were no issues there. But Irving declined to say what they said to each other.
It was not a pretty game for the Cavaliers, and offense was not the issue in this game. The Cavs led 50-38 with 6:20 left in the second quarter and were outscored 57-25 in the next 18:20. The Hawks, playing without starting guard Jeff Teague, shot 71% and made 9-of-14 three-pointers during that stretch.
It was an impressive shooting clinic, and it didn't include much from known sharpshooter Kyle Korver. Reserve guard Shelvin Mack scored a career-high 24 points and made all six three-point shots he attempted.
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The Hawks, who have offensive and defensive versatility, are now 18-7, have won 13 of their last 15 games and are in third place in the Eastern Conference, a 1/2 game behind Washington and 1½ games behind Toronto. Yes, the East is the East, but the well-coached Hawks are an emerging story in the conference.
But the postgame focused on Cleveland's third loss in four games and Irving's impromptu shooting sessions. Irving is shooting 46% from the field and 37.5% on threes this season. Not great, not horrible, but his shot hasn't been falling like he wants since he scored 24, 28 and 37 points in consecutive games in late November, early December.
In Irving's past seven games, he's shooting 37.6% from the field and 20% on threes. In those seven games, he did not reach double figures in points in two of those games.
In recent games, Irving has often played off the ball with James on the court – more of a shooting guard than a point guard – and it's adjustment for Irving, just as it was an adjustment for James and Dwyane Wade to play off the ball in Miami. Irving's learning how to play offense with someone else dominating the ball.
"Getting good looks. Just have to knock them down for our team," Irving said. "It's frustrating for myself when I'm getting the looks I want to get and they're either in and out or I'm just being lazy with my jump shot. I've just got to figure it out. Tonight, just getting extra shots up. That's what I needed to do, and I felt like I needed to do and a couple of my teammates came out there."
Asked to explain what he meant by "lazy with my jump shot," Irving said, "It's just a few inches to the left, a few inches to the right right now. That's why a little extra work never hurts. Just got to knock down the looks I'm getting."
But Irving said it has nothing to do with form or technique.
"Alright guys, let's not go deep into my jump shot," he said, "because I'm the basketball player and you guys just watch. For me, I'm very meticulous when it comes to jump shooting. The coaches really can't do anything. It's got to come from me knocking down open looks. My teammates have to trust in me and continue to give me the ball in order for us to be successful and part of our process of growing, I've just got to knock down the open looks I'm getting off the ball."