Irving’s emerging game gives James, Cavs a big lift

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — As LeBron James made the long walk through the inner maze that is backstage at the Palace of Auburn Hills and toward the Cleveland Cavaliers’ team bus, he could feel the magnitude of the moment.

James is used to history — his history — being made in this building that had been dormant during the playoffs for seven long years since he swept the Detroit Pistons out of the first round in 2009, the last time Motor City had a postseason berth.

It was the site of his first playoff series defeat — a Game 7 loss in the second round in 2006. It was the site of perhaps his finest postseason performance — a 48-point masterpiece, which included him scoring 29 of the Cavs’ final 30 points, in a double-overtime victory in the conference finals in 2007.

And Friday night, after a 101-91 win by the Cavs to go up 3-0 on the Pistons, it was the site of the Cavs’ succession plan starting to take root. As great as James was in Game 3 — 20 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists is no slouch of a night — it was Kyrie Irving’s star that shined brightest for Cleveland.

In what was his finest, most-controlled, yet subtly-spectacular performance since returning to the court in December from offseason surgery to repair a fractured left kneecap, Irving poured in a game-high 26 points on 11-for-20 shooting, dished out four assists against only two turnovers and hit the shot of the night — an impossible catch-and-shoot corner 3 with just 0.7 seconds on the shot clock that gave the Cavs an unassailable eight-point lead with less than a minute left.

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“It’s a special moment for our team,” James told ESPN.com as he made his way out of the arena that he admitted used to give him “sleepless nights” but has now just become another stop on his greatest hits tour. “It’s growing. This is a growing night for our team. The fact that I didn’t play particularly well offensively, as far as shooting the ball, and I was able to take a step backwards and rely on Kyrie and Kevin [Love] to pick us up offensively …

“This is a huge step for the young guys to be in a situation where, you know, this is a hostile building. No matter what the seeding is, this is a hostile building and for those guys to come through the way we did …”

James’ voice kept trailing off, replaying the night in …

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