Alonzo Gee may have made the play of the game, but it was Kyrie Irving who carried the show most of the night, as he torched the Boston Celtics to the tune of 40 points. More from the News-Herald: “I thought it was a pretty loud statement tonight,’ said Cavs coach Byron Scott of Irving’s All-Star chances. ‘Some Eastern Conference coaches will look at his stats and his accomplishments, but they’ll also look at our record. Some will say, ‘He’s playing great, but he’s not winning.’ Name me one point guard in the Eastern Conference having a better season.’ Irving had 15 points in the fourth quarter, 11 in the last 2 minutes, 31 seconds. He said the Cavs are developing that camaraderie needed to close out games. The 6-foot-3, 191-pounder just destroyed anyone in his path on Tuesday. He converted 16 of 24 shots from the field, 1 of 3 from behind the arc and 7 of 7 from the foul line. ‘He sets the tone for us,” Scott said. ‘I told him, ‘I need you to be aggressive.’ When he’s aggressive, everyone picks up on that. That’s the type of player we need.’ […] ‘The last time, they really handed it to us in Boston,’ Irving said. It was the second 40-point game of his career. He had a career-high 41 points on Dec. 15 against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. ‘In my mind, he’s a top-five point guard in this league,’ Tristan Thompson said. Scott instructed Irving he needed to be more assertive. ‘You only need to tell me once,’ Irving said.”
