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Can the Cavs win without Kyrie Irving?

By CM Towle

Feb 26, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) uses a pick by center Tristan Thompson (13) while driving against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 26, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) uses a pick by center Tristan Thompson (13) while driving against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving is out for the rest of the NBA Finals. Can the Cavs win without him? 

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It’s horrible news for Cavaliers fans, not to mention the team itself and maybe even fans of basketball period. Reports that Cavs star point guard Kyrie Irving has fractured his kneecap and is now done for the season came out on Friday. It could hardly be a worse situation for the Cavs, save if LeBron James got injured.

Irving was an integral part for the Cavs in Game 1, guarding Warriors star Steph Curry, not to mention outscoring him through regulation. To that he added seven rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks – one that kept Curry from scoring on a layup, which would have given the Warriors the lead with 24 seconds remaining in regulation.

So the huge looming question for the Cavs is can they beat the Warriors without Irving? The answer is this: it’s going to be hard. Very hard. Maybe even impossible. Even with LeBron’s determination to bring the Cavs a title, and his superhuman efforts thus far. The reason is mainly that the Warriors are not the three teams the Cavs have faced so far. Nothing like them, in fact. In the first round you had the Celtics who were barely ready to be in the playoffs at all. In the second round, it was an injury-riddled Bulls team that was turning on its coach. In the third, a Hawks team that miraculously got less healthy with each passing game.

The Warriors aren’t those teams. They’ve already fought, and won, against the likes of Anthony Davis, Mark Gasol, Zach Randolph and MVP runner-up James Harden. Golden State has also remained mostly healthy through the playoffs, even having Marreese Speights return for the Finals. To make no mention of the fact that they obviously have Steph Curry, and he is hard to stop in one game, much less a series.

Let’s look at Game 1. LeBron put up 44 points, and Irving, whom the Cavs tried to hide against their previous two opponents because of his injury, was a thorn in the Warriors’ collective side all night. Is it a coincidence that he went out in OT and suddenly the Cavs became a victim to Golden State’s swarming defense? Probably not.

There’s no mistake, this is a huge blow to the Cavs and, regardless of what anyone might try to say, a boon to the Warriors. Can Cleveland overcome it? Probably not. But for competition’s sake, let’s hope they put up a good fight.

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