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But with Irving, the former No. 1 overall pick and NBA Rookie of the Year, we expected it. The Leap wasn't a question for Cleveland's best player. It was a necessity. Still, 23.9 points a game is big time, and the 6-3 guard is still only 20 years old. Uncle Drew kills on the playgrounds, but Irving commits crimes against humanity in NBA arenas. For a while, some questioned whether Irving deserved to be an All-Star this season. His numbers are obviously good enough – the aforementioned points, plus 5.4 assists and 1.7 steals a night – but Cleveland is struggling. At 15-34, they have no chance of sniffing the playoffs, and the NBA's midseason classic is a party typically reserved for winners. Yet sometimes, prodigies can't be denied. And Irving is so talented he even made Russell Westbrook look bad this year. Irving cooked Westbrook and the Thunder for 13 points in the final three minutes of Cleveland's upset win in early February, and did it all with defenders leaning all over him. The highlights were absurd. The tape almost felt doctored. Crossovers, spin moves, hesitations, the ball wasn't just on a string, it was as if Irving spent his entire life prepping for that moment. He was thinking four, no, five steps ahead, and when he drilled a triple from the top of the arc to ice it, Cleveland's broadcast team nearly hyperventilated. LeBron was official over. Kyrie was in. Westbrook is a bad man, but Irving is quickly evolving into one of the three or four best scorers in the NBA. Irving's next step will be learning the intricacies of the point guard spot. Cleveland is not a very good team, and they don't have much talent. They need someone to make them better, set them up, and put the less-gifted players in position to succeed. Irving's always been a dominant scorer. Back in high school, he played as much of the two as point guard, and without much hope this season, coach Byron Scott is basically rolling the ball out and telling him to attack. However, now that he is an All-Star, and will find his name included among the great point guard discussion for the next decade, it isn't enough to expect big nights from Irving. We're expecting greatness, and waiting on postseason wins. 1 SKULLCANDY JAMES HARDEN If you expected the Rockets to vault into playoff contention with James Harden leading them, if you expected Harden to become one of the five best scorers in the league, if you expected the Beard to have nights like the one he had in early Febru- DIME MID-SEASON REPORT ary in Miami where he looked like the best player on the floor, you can take a bow. There aren't many of you. The trade on the eve of the season that sent James Harden from Oklahoma City to Houston was quite odd. Not for the way it was orchestrated, although that was definitely unique, but for the reaction. Nearly everyone believed it was a stupid move by the Thunder. They broke up a core that made the Finals in 2012. You just don't do that. Then again, those same people criticized Houston for acquiring Harden and immediately giving him a max contract worth approximately $80 million. Why? No one believed James Harden was a franchise player, not even the stat heads who constantly mused about his per-36 minute production and how he was one of the best scorers in the league last season even though he came off the bench for the Thunder. Harden put those doubts to rest quickly, going for 37 points and 12 assists in his first game with Houston. Then the very next game, the Beard raised the bar even higher, dropping 45 on only 19 shots against the Hawks. From there, it's been one long breakout for the Arizona State product. As of press time, he was averaging 25.8 points a night, good for fifth in the league, and had the Rockets at 27-24, a No. 8 playoff seed in their sights. Since becoming "The Man" in Houston, Harden's game hasn't changed much. It's still centered on balance and rhythm, his patented Euro Step being one of the deadliest moves you'll ever see. 67 And as the season is moving along, his playmaking and efficiency are steadily climbing. He's getting a handle on drawing the best defender every night, and dealing with double-teams and hard hedges off screens. This is all new to him. What makes Harden so dangerous is his consistency. He's scored in doublefigures in every game but one this season, and has had less than 17 just three times. That's incredible. Because he draws fouls at an incredible clip (a league-leading 10.1 attempts a game), you can book Harden down for free points. That's like giving Usain Bolt a five-meter head start in a sprint. From there, Harden has the step-back jumper, floaters in the lane, a deadeye catch-nshoot three-point shot, and a spectacular pick-n-roll game. The defense isn't there yet – over 100 possessions, the team actually allows 1.4 more points with Harden on the floor, per 82games.com. Harden gambles too often and is often falling into the traps that come with being a superstar (laziness, a penchant for drifting defensively, an excuse to save his energy). But that's a sickness every major star deals with from time to time. In one year, Harden went from a NBA Finals scapegoat and Thabo Sefolosha's backup to one of the two or three best isolation players in the game, and a legitimate franchise player. He'll make All-Star Games for the next decade. Even so short as six months ago, no one saw that coming.