Tristan Thompson took a break from his schoolwork this weekend and provided an efficient 14 points and seven rebounds in 12 minutes of play in the South Florida All-Star Classic.
A last minute fill-in for LeBron James’ team as the rotund Eddy Curry was a late scratch, the Cavaliers’ first-round selection got some run in the much-discussed and loosely named pick-up game that was rife with everything but actual defense. As Brendan mentioned over at Stepien Rules, despite the lackluster challenge given by the opposition, Thompson showed a ton of hustle in his limited time including a highlight dunk at the expense of Miami Heat point guard Mario Chalmers.
So far this off-season, the recently drafted pair of Thompson and Kyrie Irving have showed considerable ability against NBA-calibur players. Just last week, it was Irving who provided 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting in the Chris Paul Charity game. In the same contest, Thompson provided four points and four rebounds.
While these events obviously would not compensate for what each player would be doing if the current lockout was lifted training camp was underway, to see these guys mixing it up with top-flight NBA players and staying healthy while doing so has to be seen as a plus. Now if we can just get this impasse fixed, we will be able to see what these two players can do in respect to helping the Cavaliers get back to their winning ways.
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