It wasn't full speed ahead for Kyrie Irving, but the small steps he did take in his season debut Sunday were encouraging.
The star Cavaliers point guard, out since fracturing his kneecap in June, made his much-anticipated return and eased into his facilitator role with the offense, showing rust at first but eventually finding a rhythm in limited minutes as Cleveland took care of the lowly 76ers, 108-86.
MORE: Top 10 NBA moments of 2015 | Kyrie Irving gets second signature shoe from Nike
Irving missed his first five shots of the game, admittedly stale and nervous, but finished with 12 points, four assists and two steals in 17 minutes. In fact, he drew on an old adversary in 76ers guard Kendall Marshall to spark a stretch during the third quarter where he rattled off seven straight points and looked a lot like his old self.
"That kind of got me going," Irving said of Marshall, with whom he's maintained a friendly rivalry since before the two played at Duke and North Carolina, respectively. "He tried to iso me on the right wing. That was pretty funny. That was going back to our high school days. I've known Kendall for a while now. Him trying to go at me, it was more or less a test."
Spelling Irving was Matthew Dellavedova, who had one of his best games of the season with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. LeBron James, perhaps most excited (and relieved) for Irving's return, led everybody with 23 points to go with five rebounds and four assists.
Irving was restricted to playing just four minutes per quarter and will face similar time limits as he's reacclimated to NBA play.
But the Cavs, who have won five straight, are starting to look like their old selves, and that's a scary thought for a team that's already comfortably in first place.
Headlines
Bucks coach Jason Kidd is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team to undergo hip surgery. Kidd announced the news after Milwaukee's 101-95 win over the Suns, saying he's been dealing with chronic pain in his hip since his playing days. Assistant Joe Prunty will take over on an interim basis.
Pelicans star Anthony Davis battled flu-like symptoms while leading the Pelicans over the Nuggets, 130-125. Davis came out on fire, scoring 19 points in the first quarter, but he left for the locker room and didn't return until midway through the fourth with Denver leading 106-104. He finished with 27 points and six rebounds in 19:43.
Stud of the night
Will Barton has been on fire coming off the bench for the Nuggets, and he turned in his best performance yet with a season-high 32 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the losing effort.
Dud of the night
Kyle Lowry has had an up-and-down week. He shot 4 of 13 from the field Sunday, managing just 13 points in a 104-94 loss to the Kings. It follows an awful showing Thursday when he shot barely over 20 percent. Sandwiched between the two was a 21-point, four-assist, four-steal performance against the Heat. It's a troubling trend for the Raptors (17-12), who have lost three of four.
Looking ahead (All times Eastern)
Pacers (16-10) at Spurs (23-5), 8:30 p.m.: Each team enters in second place in their respective conferences, with early-season success coming quietly without all the headlines the Cavs or Warriors have enjoyed. This promises to be a defensive affair with the Spurs allowing a league-low 88.9 points per game and the Pacers coming in ranked seventh at 98.5. Both are top five in point differential.
Thunder (18-9) at Clippers (16-12), 10:30 p.m.: The Thunder embark on a three-day tour of Los Angeles after dismantling the Lakers back in Oklahoma City on Saturday. After back-to-back road loses to the Spurs and Rockets, the Clippers, who trail the Thunder by 2 1/2 games in the West, should prove much tougher than their Hollywood counterparts.
