CLEVELAND _ One of Tyronn Lue's first moves after taking over as head coach was convincing Kyrie Irving not to look at the stats sheet. At least, not the assists column. So much time and focus was spent scrutinizing Irving's role as a point guard and facilitator that Lue told him to forget about his assist totals and just worry about attacking.
Yet a funny trend has developed as a result: Irving's scoring is up significantly this season, and his assist totals haven't really suffered. His 24 points per game is a career high, and his 5.0 assists aren't far off his career average of 5.5. Irving passed for a season-high 11 assists Friday, which was one off his career high.
"By him being aggressive, attacking, looking to score the basketball, that opens up his passing," Lue said of Irving. "He's not Jason Kidd or [Rajon] Rondo, who can dominate the game with his passing, he's an elite scorer. By him being aggressive, attacking the basket, turning the corner, that opens up everything for his passing."
Of course, the presence of LeBron James helps Irving not have to worry about traditional point-guard duties as well. James often has the ball in his hands directing the Cavaliers' attack, although he has turned over more of the duties to Irving early in the season.
"He's learning it each and every day," James said. "He's always just trying to figure out ways to help his teammates, be more productive. [Friday] was just another step forward."
Lue likes the pace at which the Cavs play when James is pushing the attack and believes Irving needs to play faster. Overall, the Cavs are 13th in the NBA, averaging 99.9 possessions. They were over 100 until Friday's win over the Detroit Pistons after ranking near the bottom of the league last season in pace.
Although the Cavs are creating extra possessions, Lue maintains that isn't necessarily the goal. He simply believes by playing faster, it's easier to get better looks for some of the other players on the floor besides the team's stars.
Pace and scoring are up across the league, continuing a recent trend. Only seven teams averaged at least 100 possessions per game last season, but that number is up to 12 and the Cavs are a 13th team that has been above 100 much of the season. As a result, 23 teams are averaging at least 100 points. That's the same number of teams that averaged 100 points last year, but it's up drastically from two years ago, when 15 teams averaged at least 100 points.
As for Irving, he's learning to strike the balance between looking for his own shot and getting others involved. He matched his previous season high with seven assists in the first quarter Friday.
"It's all part of the growth process, finding what really fits with this team," Irving said. "Right now I'm trying to find that consistency and I feel I can attack any time, whether it's for a basket or to get other guys involved. Getting in the lane, I'm fairly good at it. Coming downhill, bigs are coming up and they're attacking me. If I see a layup or if I see a jump shot, then take it. If I see an opportunity for a teammate to get a great shot, I'm going to hit him. It's just more or less just playing with the game and being physically loose and mentally tight. Just going out there and just playing."
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