Did it really surprise anyone that the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the New York Knicks on Thursday night? With all the hype surrounding the return of LeBron James, the Cavs were perfectly set up for a major letdown. Kyrie Irving believes poor communication with Cleveland’s new head coach was one of the things that went wrong in the 95-90 loss.
Irving, who led the Cavs with 22 points and seven assists, said he needs to do a better job of working with David Blatt. He turned the ball over four times.
“For us, it’s just a better communication between me and Coach Blatt,” Irving said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. “That’s basically what it boils down to. I’m his point guard out there, and some things that I see, you know, he has plays in his mind and I have plays in my mind as well.
“We’re just going to continue to grow. It’s a process. Within practice, we kind of switch on and off [calling the plays], but for us it’s about what’s going on out there on the court and what he sees and what I see, and hopefully we can get on the same page pretty soon.”
Irving’s four turnovers didn’t help, but it’s probably safe to put most of the weight from Thursday’s loss on LeBron’s shoulders. James shot 5-of-15 from the floor and committed a whopping eight turnovers. It’s quite possible nerves got the best of him.
Still, Irving was happy to point the finger at himself.
“It starts with me and my patience in the half court and the full court,” he said. “There were some plays that we were running, just what I see out there and exploiting mismatches and trying to do the best I can on making this team go.”
Are we drawing conclusions after the first game of the season? Of course not, but it’s a good sign for the Cavs that Irving is willing to accept his role as the leader of Cleveland’s offense — even with LeBron being the star of the show. Perhaps LeBron could teach Kyrie a little more about that offense he has supposedly mastered.
