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Kyrie Irving and LeBron James connected for an absurd off-the-backboard alley-oop

LeBron soars to grab Irving’s off-the-backboard pass. (Getty)
LeBron soars to grab Irving’s off-the-backboard pass. (Getty)

The Cleveland Cavaliers had an entire week of rest before their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Toronto Raptors. So of course, everybody was panicking. They’ll be rusty! They won’t have their playoff edge!

Counterpoint: They’ll be just fine.

Proof:

I mean, this is just absurd. James shoots in for the steal, and then is cruising down the court after the ball finds Irving. Irving is peeking back at James as he dribbles toward the basket. And if you take a second look … is LeBron telling Irving to go off the glass all the way back at midcourt?

He might just be pointing toward the rim assuming Irving is in the clear. But it’s more fun to imagine him plotting Kyle Lowry’s posterization behind his back.

But take a look at Lowry making business decisions:

There was nooooo way Lowry was going to get further embarrassed by trying to intercept the pass after it bounded back off the glass. He quietly slid to the side to make sure he didn’t feature prominently on the poster.

LeBron’s jam wasn’t Cleveland’s only dunk of the first half, either:

The Cavs jumped out to a big lead, but Toronto climbed back to within two in the second quarter.