Irving scores 22 as Cavs beat Pacers

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Kyrie Irving scored 22 points in his return after missing three games with a concussion, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 98-87 win Wednesday night over the reeling Indiana Pacers, who dropped their fifth straight.

Irving played for the first time since Feb. 7, when he banged his head following a collision in Miami.

The 19-year-old rookie was only cleared to play in the morning by Cavs doctors, who followed the NBA’s new guidelines on head injuries during his recovery.

Irving made the Cavs more complete, but they’re still without center Anderson Varejao, sidelined indefinitely with a broken wrist. Semih Erden started for Varejao and scored a career-high 18 points.

Darren Collison scored 18 and Roy Hibbert 17 for Indiana, which was without leading scorer Danny Granger because of a sprained ankle. Dahntay Jones had only three points as Granger’s replacement.

Irving said he felt fully recovered and was excited to be back on the floor.

And it showed.

The young star went 5 of 6 and scored 12 points in the first quarter, when he added two assists and two rebounds while helping the Cavs jump to an early double-digit lead. Irving’s legs were lively from the week off, and as much as it pained him to have to sit out, the No. 1 overall draft pick believes the rest helped.

“I kind of took it as a break for me, honestly,” Irving said. “It couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m going to be even busier next weekend with the All-Star [weekend]. It’s good to get a break. ... I feel fresh.”

Irving didn’t score in the second quarter, but he added eight points in the third — making a pair of 3-pointers — to help the Cavs, who led by 12 after one and 18 at halftime, keep the Pacers at bay.

Cleveland took an 18-point lead into the fourth, but with Irving on the bench, the Cavs became disjointed on offense and didn’t score for the first 5:07 of the quarter.

Ramon Sessions finally ended the drought with a three-point play to make it 82-67 with 6:53 left, and Indiana only got as close as nine points in the final minute.

Cavs coach Byron Scott had been hoping one of Cleveland’s big men would step up with Varejao out, and the 7-foot Erden came through. He won’t be able to duplicate Varejao’s boundless energy, but Erden added eight rebounds and did a solid defensive job inside on Hibbert.

It didn’t all go as planned for the Cavs.

Guard Daniel Gibson injured his left ankle in the third quarter, when he came down on Indiana guard Paul George’s foot.