The Cleveland Cavaliers won over the New York Knicks on Friday night and the comeback victory was led by LeBron James to earn an eighth straight win for the Cavs. The team will try to improve to 9-1 against the Bucks next and the Cavs are hoping that point guard Kyrie Irving can return to action soon.
The Cavaliers won 90-84 over the Knicks after getting 31 points from James and he helped the team come back from a 10-point deficit in the second half. The Knicks stuck around with the Cavaliers and had multiple leads in the game, but James and Mo Williams were strong in the fourth and now Cleveland has won eight straight games.
James had 31 points and six assists, while Mo Williams added 20 points and three assists, including the tiebreaking bucket to give the Cavs the lead. The Cavs defense was strong late and the team held the Knicks to just 12 points in the final quarter. Kevin Love had seven points and 11 rebounds, Timofey Mozgov had 11 points and seven rebounds against the team that drafted him, while Tristan Thompson finished with double digit rebounds.
Kyrie Irving has not yet suited up for the Cavaliers this season, but his return could be coming over the next month or two. According to Cleveland.com, Irving has been cleared for "unrestricted weight bearing activities" and while the point guard does not have a set return date, this is a positive step in his rehab progress. Irving had knee surgery after suffering an injury during the NBA finals last summer against Golden State.
According to RealGM, head coach David Blatt said that Irving is not quite ready to return and that the team is "not rushing things" with the point guard. Irving has been able to some contact work in recent weeks and his training could increase heading into December.
