The Cleveland Cavaliers barely broke a sweat in dismantling the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, leading by double-figures for the entire second half and by as many as 34 as they cruised to their East-leading 15th victory of the season. With the game well in hand before the start of the fourth quarter, the Cavs’ top guns — LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson — spent the bulk of the final frame chilling on the bench, looking for something more interesting than garbage time to occupy their minds.

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They found it, as so many young champions before them have, in flipping water bottles:

I didn’t know coming into Wednesday that I wanted to hear Mike Breen say, “Again, this is what the game has come to” as he discussed the migration patterns of Manhattan Santas and water-bottle flipping. But of course I did.

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Eventually, noted marksman Irving became the lone Cav to stick the landing:

“It’s just a social media craze, man,” Irving said after the game, according to Jesse Spector of FanRag Sports. “Man, the water bottle, if you land it, you’re just, like, a legend. So, I was just trying to follow in the kids’ footsteps, and really just put my mark on the water bottle challenge.”

And why not? Irving had already made his mark on the proceedings on the court, pouring in a game-high 28 points (9-for-17 shooting, 4-for-6 from 3-point land, 6-for-6 from the foul line) with six assists and two rebounds in 30 1/2 minutes. To the victors go the spoils … including, it seems, the opportunity to pursue eternal bottle-flipping glory as the clock runs out on another blowout win.

“Oh, man,” said Irving. “It was awesome.”

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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