Irving rebounds to lift Cavs

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Cavaliers coach Mike Brown delivered a simple message for Kyrie Irving after the All-Star point guard had the first scoreless game of his career Friday night: forget about it.

Brown’s advice worked.

Irving scored 20 points, including seven in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 88-82 Saturday night.

Irving made his first shot of the night on a layup a little over three minutes into the game.

The basket snapped a streak of 14 consecutive misses dating to the third quarter of Wednesday’s game against Denver. Irving, who was 0 of 9 Friday, hit 6 of 15 from the field Saturday. His two free throws with 15.7 seconds left put the game away.

“I was out there, [but] I wasn’t myself,” Irving said of Friday’s performance. “This feels good. To come back against a good Clippers team, you always get up for good teams.”

Brown doesn’t want Irving to back down on offense even if he is struggling.

“I don’t care if he goes 0 for 30,” Brown said. “I want him to keep being aggressive. If he misses five in a row and he feels like he can a great look his next time, take it. We need him to score and that’s what he can do. He can score and he can play make for his teammates. Have a short memory.”