Kyrie Irving scores 55-points and game-winning 3 against Portland

Kyrie Irving has had a career best night for the Cavaliers in their 99-94 win against the Trailblazers in Cleveland, finishing the game with 55-points along with a game-winning 3-pointer.

Irving shot an incredible 11 3-pointers for the game on route to an arena record 55-points. However, the icing on the cake for the 22-year-old would come at the death, as he secured a thrilling win for his side against the Western Conference’s number three side.

With 27.6 seconds left on the clock and the scores tied at 94-94, Irving was handed the ball from an inbound. Calmly walking the ball up the court, Irving came face-to-face with Portland’s Nicolas Batum – a man with 12cm on the point-guard.

Where was LeBron you ask? Sitting on the bench with a wrist injury.

With the scores tied, Batum was clearly expecting a 2-point play, shifting back well beneath the arch as Irving made his approach with seven seconds left on the clock. However, with ten 3-pointers to his name for the evening, Irving had reason to feel confident, choosing to forego the isolation opportunity to instead send the crowd into raptures with his 11th three of the night.

The shot stopped the clock with 6.4 seconds remaining in the match, so just for good measure Irving returned to the court and added a final two points to his tally for the evening.

The Cavaliers currently sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings following a disappointing start to the season and a troublesome period while LeBron James was sidelined with injury.

Since the return of ‘The King’ the side appears to be finally clicking into gear, and the top four sides in the East will be very wary of what appears to be an inevitable late charge to the playoffs from the Cavs.