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Midseason NBA Player Rankings: Steph Curry vs. James Harden

By Bryce Olin

Jan 21, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) shoots the ball against the Houston Rockets during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors won 126-113. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 21, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) shoots the ball against the Houston Rockets during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors won 126-113. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 9, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) saves the ball from going out of bounds against the Golden State Warriors in the second quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 9, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) saves the ball from going out of bounds against the Golden State Warriors in the second quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /

13. Kyrie Irving

21.1 PPG, 5.3 APG, 3.1 RPG, 19.6 PER

Steve Francis 2.0!

Kyrie Irving has upped his game over the last few weeks, and he’s one of the major reasons the Cleveland Cavaliers have been playing better lately.

Obviously, LeBron James is a huge part of that, but Irving is filling in nicely as Robin to LeBron’s Batman.

The key to Irving’s better play is keeping it simple.

For one thing, he’s passing now, which is a great to see from a point guard. Irving racked up 12 assists in the Cavs’ huge win over the Chicago Bulls. On top of that, Irving is also taking better shots and has become more efficient because of it.

Over his last five games, Irving’s scoring is down just a bit at 20.8 points, but his shooting percentage has gone way up. In those games, Irving made 52 percent of his shots. While that’s not great, it’s much better than the low 40s where he’s been for a good portion of the season.

Cleveland is 4-1 in their last five games and starting to pick up steam in the East. If Irving can continue to pass the ball, get his teammates, especially J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov, involved in the offense, and play better defense, I really think the Cavs can jump Chicago, and possibly Toronto, and get into the top four, maybe even three, in the East before the end of February.

Next: Al Horford

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