Cavs routed again, but Irving survives

By Mary Schmitt Boyer

Cleveland Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND

Byron Scott did not have to hear the whole question before he answered.

Asked if his heart skipped a beat when Kyrie Irving hit the deck late in the first half of Wednesday’s 103-87 loss to the Philadelphia, the Cavaliers coach laughed and said, “Yes, it did. I’m not going to lie.”

Irving, the likely NBA rookie of the year, returned to the starting lineup for the first time after missing 10 of 11 games with a sprained right shoulder. His nine points, four assists and three rebounds in 19 minutes were not enough to make a difference against the Sixers on Wednesday.

But his return — and ability to finish in one piece — was about the only good news to come out of the game for the Cavs (20-41), who lost for the third straight game and 15th of their last 18. They finished a stretch of seven games in nine days with a 2-5 record.

“It didn’t go the way I would have liked,” Irving said, “but it felt good to be back out there.”

With 3:45 left in the second quarter, Irving drove to the basket, ran into Philadelphia’s Elton Brand and went flying.

“It was my ‘welcome back’ moment,” Irving said with a small smile. “Good thing I got it out of the way early.”

His coach almost needed CPR, though. Even Brand — a former Duke player, like Irving — seemed a bit shaken.

“When he hit the floor, I was like, ‘Whoa,’’’ Scott said. “Elton looked over and said, ‘I didn’t try to hurt him.’ I said, ‘I know. He’s a Duke guy.’ My heart did drop a little bit there.

“He didn’t think about it, got right back up, which was a great sign that showed me, ‘OK, he’s fine.’”

Jrue Holiday had 24 points, including 19 in the third quarter when he made five straight 3-pointers, as Philadelphia (32-30) moved 21/2 games ahead of Milwaukee in the race for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Lester Hudson and Donald Sloan each had 15 points to lead the Cavs.