Move over, MJ: LeBron James set the record for consecutive regular-season games with at least 10 points in the Cavs' 107-102 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

James finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists, scoring in double figures for a record 867th game in a row, breaking the tie he forged Wednesday with Michael Jordan. He also tied Kobe Bryant for third place with 941 games of 20 or more points.

I didn't get a chance to watch last nights game till this morning. Anybody explain to me why this team plays so much better when Jose Calderon is on the floor?

Yep.

First it's obvious he can shoot 3s. Secondly he can take some ballhandling duties. Third, he is egoless. Just plays his role. Which is playing smart.

More about Calderon in this article HB

Cleveland Cavaliers: Looking at Isaiah-Kyrie deal, loving Jordan Clarkson -- Terry Pluto

Jordan Clarkson has been one of the Cavs most underrated players this season.

By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer terrypluto2003@yahoo.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Upon further review, Isaiah Thomas probably should have had hip surgery at the end of last season.

It's always easy to second-guess after a player decides against surgery, performs poorly then decides to have surgery. That is the story for Thomas. He suffered a hip injury late last season. He tried to return to his Boston Celtics All-Star form through rest and rehabilitation.

He came to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Kyrie Irving deal. He didn't play until Jan. 2. When he did, it was obvious he was not close to being healthy.

Thomas was then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers along with the Cavs 2018 first-round pick for Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson. Thomas had surgery on March 29 to clean out "inflammatory debris," according to ESPN.

Thomas will need four months to recover. He is a free agent in July.

ABOUT KYRIE IRVING

Meanwhile, Irving had knee surgery on March 24. He is supposed to be out 3-to-6 weeks. The surgery was to "remove a tension wire in his left knee," according to a statement from the Celtics. Irving had the wire installed in 2015, when he suffered a fractured left kneecap during the NBA Finals.

The Celtics also said "Irving's knee has been found to be completely structurally sound." But the fact is the two names in that Cavs-Celtics trade of Aug. 22, 2017 have had significant surgery during the season.


Boston seems confident Irving will come back strong at some point in the playoffs. That may be true. But it should be of some long-term concern that the guard has had two surgeries on the same knee by age 26. Irving was having a terrific season, averaging 24.4 points, 5.1 assists and shooting .491 from the field.

Looking back at the trade, here are some thoughts:

1. The Cavs also received Jae Crowder, who had trouble adjusting to his role here. He was eventually sent to Utah to bring Rodney Hood to the Cavs.

2. Crowder has been an excellent fit with the Jazz, who are 15-6 since he arrived. He comes off the bench, averaging 12.2 points and 3.4 rebounds, shooting 40 percent. He is more comfortable in coach Quinn Snyder's structured offense, which is much like what Brad Stevens uses in Boston.

3. Along with Crowder and Thomas, the Cavs also picked up Ante Zizic. The 6-foot-11 Croatian has not played a lot, he has shown why the Cavs wanted him. At 21, he has classic, big-man post moves. He knows how to run the pick-and-roll and has excellent hands when catching a pass as he moves to the basket.

4. Zizic has scored 97 points in 184 NBA minutes. He is 41-of-57 (.719) from the field.

5. NBA analytics attempt to project how a player would perform in 36 minutes a game. The logic can be faulty, because that much time on the court often exposes flaws. But in those projections, Zizic averages 19 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocks.


6. This much I do know -- Zizic is likely to play in the NBA for a long time because of his size and skills. He could be an important part of the Cavs next season.

7. I knew absolutely nothing about Zizic when the Cavs acquired him. What I heard from some NBA people was lukewarm. He played last season in Turkey, averaging 9.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in 22 minutes. He played for former Cavs coach David Blatt, who predicted big things for Zizic.

8. Finally, the Cavs do have the Brooklyn lottery pick as part of the Irving-Thomas deal. That has been an important part of the trade.

ABOUT JORDAN CLARKSON AND JOSE CALDERON

1. The most underrated player the Cavs added in their draft-day deals is Jordan Clarkson. It has been a long time since the Cavs have had such a dynamic scorer coming off the bench.

2. Let's also start with a perfect attendance award: Clarkson has not missed a game this season. George Hill, Larry Nance Jr., and Hood have all missed some time, the latest being Hill's ankle injury on Friday.

3. Clarkson also played all 82 games in 2016-17. He missed only three games in 2015-16. On a team where it seems everyone not named LeBron James or Jose Calderon has missed games, Clarkson has been pure gold simply by being available every night.


4. That's right, James at 33 and 36-year-old Calderon have not missed a game with injury. The coaches decided not to play Calderon some nights, but the veteran guard has always been ready to play. The Cavs are 21-9 when Calderon starts. He brings a sense of order, even if his totals in the box score are modest.

5. Koby Altman added bigger names and reputations than Calderon and Clarkson since taking over last summer as general manager. But they have been steady and productive players.

6. Calderon is shooting .503 from the field, .470 from 3-point range. Altman called Calderon "a culture guy" when he signed the guard to a veteran-minimum contract last summer. I thought Calderon was done. I thought wrong. He just needed to be on a good team where all the little things he does right can be very big.

7. While Calderon always seems under control, Clarkson is ready to rush right up any hill and plant a flag. He is a relentless shooter and scorer. Often, he dribbles a while ... the defender thinks he's going to pass ... then bolts to the rim for a power layup.

8. I know the analytics crowd hates players who take medium-range jump shots. But that is one of Clarkson's strengths. He'll drive to the rim, stop about 12 feet away and make a jumper. He constantly puts pressure on the defense.


9. Coming off the bench, Clarkson is averaging 13.5 points and shooting .470 (.417 on 3-pointers) in 24 minutes a game for the Cavs. The 6-foot-5 guard has a playground grit about his game that is good for a team that can fall into the trap of being a finesse team of long-range jump shooters.

10. Clarkson, 25, is in his fourth NBA season, so he should be effective for quite a while. Acting coach Larry Drew compared Clarkson to Ben Gordon. In my old brain, two names came to mind -- Vinnie Johnson and John Battle. Johnson is the better comparison because he was more effective for a longer time, but I also appreciated Battle's determination.

There have been a couple games lately that was not going too well, then Calderon would come in off bench and the teams comes back and takes lead. Just uncanny how much better they perform when he's on court.

future coach?

Just a very smart guy who has been there and done that.

And on this team he fits because he can pass and shoot 3's - can run the point intelligently.

Can sit some games and come in and you wouldn't know it. Great team guy.

Every time Green shoots a 3 pointer he should get 3 swift kicks to the nuts.

Of course Green hits his next two 3 point attempts after I posted that..

Nice win tonight!

Continuing your Calderon theme HB - and Lebron answers your question about him:

Jose Calderon dominates Kyle Lowry, Cavaliers beat Raptors, 112-106

By Joe Vardon, Cleveland.com jvardon@cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If Jose Calderon is going to outplay Toronto All-Star Kyle Lowry, the Raptors have no shot against the Cavaliers in the playoffs.

That's what happened Tuesday at The Q in Cleveland's 112-106 win over Toronto in a game the Cavs led comfortably until a near-collapse by the end of their bench.

LeBron James led all scorers with 27 points and contributed 10 rebounds and six assists. He passed Kobe Bryant for third place all time with his 942nd game with at least 20 points.

But the story here was the 36-year-old Calderon - who was supposed to be one of those Cavs who barely play - running Lowry off the court.

Calderon finished with a season-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting with four rebounds and four assists. Lowry, who attended his alma mater Villanova's NCAA title game victory Monday night in San Antonio, scored five points on 2-of-11 shooting. He arrived in Cleveland in the middle of the night.

"I thought (Calderon) did a pretty good job on Lowry," Cavs acting coach Larry Drew said. "Lowry is a tough guard and guys like him, you just try to make it tough for him. We know that they're going to score, but we just try to make it tough for him. That's all we ask Jose to do. I thought he did a really good job."


The Cavs are now 23-9 when Calderon starts at point guard. He's out there now because George Hill is sidelined with a sprained ankle.

"He was huge for us tonight, obviously," James said of Calderon. "Right from the beginning. His ability to make shots and be very cerebral with our packages, it allows him to be successful. I think he's just a smart, smart basketball player."


The Raptors are a deeper, more versatile group than the team the Cavs have knocked out of the playoffs the last two seasons. But they will still ultimately go only as far as Lowry and DeMar DeRozan can take them.

DeRozan had a nice night (19 points, seven assists, 7-of-13 shooting), but not far behind was his Cleveland counterpart Rodney Hood (17 points).

The Raptors' lead over Boston in the East is two games over Boston. Toronto hosts the Celtics Wednesday.

The Cavs, winners of nine of their last 10 and seven in a row at home, remain a half-game in front of the 76ers for third in the East.

"I think we're jelling at the right time, especially when we get George back from injury," Hood said. "We're jelling at the right time."

Kevin Love, who missed shootaround in the morning because he was sick, contributed 18 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavs. He knocked down four 3-pointers. Jeff Green scored seven of his 12 points in the fourth quarter -- he started instead of Larry Nance Jr. so he could help on DeRozan.

LeBron James, 'the closer,' on the Cavs win over Raptors

Kyle Korver played his first game since March 19 and finished with three points and three boards. Korver missed seven games attending to the death of his brother and, separately nursing a sore right foot.

The Cavs carried an 86-78 lead into the fourth, and it was 93-86 when James returned with 7:52 to go. James scored nine in the final frame, including a nasty post move and free throw with 3:20 left for a 104-90 advantage.

One area of great improvement for Toronto over seasons past is its bench, which entered play fourth in the NBA in scoring. And while Toronto's reserves outscored the Cavs' backups 45-19, the Raptors were outscored by two points with James on the bench until both teams emptied their benches very late in the game.

Toronto, of course, scored eight points in about 30 seconds to force Drew to put James, Love, Korver, Calderon and JR Smith back on the floor for the final 11.1 seconds and some important free throws. It was, after all, 108-104.

"The game is never over until there's zeroes on the clock, so the game is never over and young guys have to understand that," James said. "I know it's tough, they've been sitting the whole game, but they had some guys too that came in and they was still finishing the game out and we have to do that as well."


Calderon made his first six shots. He opened the game with 11 first-quarter points, beating Lowry in the pick and roll with James as the screener. In the second quarter he found Love for two 3s on pick and pops.

The Cavs led by as many as 16 in the first half. When the buzzer sounded, it was Calderon 14, Lowry/DeRozan 11. OG Anunoby's 3-pointer as time expired cut Cleveland's lead to 60-52 at halftime.

"Sometimes you get more shots than others because of that was what the defense gives me," Calderon said. "I'm not going to do the 19-points or whatever every night. Sometimes the defense plays me different. Today I was open at the beginning, so I was trying to exploit that."

NEXT

From watching that game - I saw what Calderon was talking about. He took what they gave him such as...

He kept running that pick and roll with Lebron setting the pick at the left side key area. When they ran it, teams would mug/double Lebron and so Calderon (dribbling) would simply continue by - leaving him open to either drive or shoot. He would just pull up and knock it down. Wide open. But passes from him at that point were open too.

Smart, good ball handler, and he can shoot the open shot - which you get a ton of with Lebron on the floor.

If Lebron calls you "smart, smart" - that's saying something.

Some good videos with the article which I don't know how to link with so here's the original article with the videos:

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf ... iver_index

WOW! Does this put a different spin on that TRADE or what?

Kyrie Irving will undergo surgery on his knee and will be sidelined for 4-5 months.

He will have the procedure on Saturday "to remove two screws implanted in his patella from an injury suffered during the 2015 NBA Finals."

The Celtics have made it clear that they will prioritize Irving's long-term health, and Celtics GM Danny Ainge recently admitted that another surgery was in his future. With a 4-5 month timetable, hopefully this means Irving will be ready to roll for training camp.

Really important to hold onto that 3rd spot in East now.

We hold the tie breaker.

so what does the long-term Irving trade deal look like?

Celtics get 2/3 of 2017-18 of regular season of Irving; no playoffs
Celtics get all of 2018-19 assuming that his rehab has him ready for the start of the season
Celtics get all of 2019-2020 assuming that his knee continues to hold up
Cavs trade Channing Frye
Cavs trade own 2018 first-round pick
Cavs trade Iman Shumpert,
Cavs trade 2020 second-round draft pick via Miami
Cavs find someone to take Derrick Rose off our hands

Cavs get
11 games of Isaiah Thomas
45 games or so of Crowder
Ante Zizic through 2021-22 if they want him
The No. 7 draft choice in 2018 [would have been several spots higher but Brooklyn has no incentive to tank like the rest of the bottom half dozen teams]
Larry Nance Jr. through 2019-20
Jordan Clarkson through 2019-20
George Hill through 2019-20
Ronny Hood through 2018-19

I think

Did they do away with the lottery in the NBA draft selection?