Kyrie Irving and Team Shaq lost Friday night but the former No. 1 overall pick still managed to steal the show.

Irving found Brandon Knights trying to check him late in the second half and he went all Uncle Drew on him not once, but three times.

Irving’s handles are really in a class by themselves. He’s so smooth and makes it look so easy. Not even Knight who is a great defender in his own right can keep up with Irving.

Irving’s display was not enough to get past Team Chuck who won the game 163-135 thanks to a 90-point first half.

Kenneth Faried was the MVP scoring 40 points and he got the most help from Ricky Rubio who had 10 dimes in 15 minutes.

Rubio is perfect for this game as alley-oops and sick passes often dominate the game. Faried and his motor only know one speed so going for 40 against the smaller Team Shaq was made easy for him.

There is no better warm-up for the dunk contest than playing in a game like this with Rubio. Faried will compete in the dunk contest representing the Western Conference Saturday night.

This was the second year that the Rising Stars Challenge teams were drafted by Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley. Barkley is 2-0 in the series.

There has already been a lot of talk regarding the future of USA Basketball. We know that Mike Krzyzewski will not be the head coach although he plans to remain involved with the program to some extent. Doc Rivers, Gregg Popovich and Doug Collins are a few of the names rumored as possible replacements.

A lot of the players from the 2012 team are likely to not return in 2016. Kobe Bryant said that this was his last Olympics and a few others may not be back either. Four years is a long time and players like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul will all be in their 30’s in 2016.

There has also been some talk of the NBA implementing a 23-under age-limit for future United States basketball teams. It is unlikely though that will come into effect until 2020.

If we look at the 2012 roster, there are a few players who are good candidates to be on the team again in 2016: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Love and Anthony Davis seem the most likely. LeBron and Anthony might be the old guys who decide to give it one more run in what would be their fourth Olympics.

That leaves at least five more roster spots assuming no one else returns. Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin are two of the youngest players who would have been playing on this team. They both missed these Olympics due to injury. If chronic injuries become a growing concern for either, they might not be options in 2016 either. Dwight Howard will still be young enough to be an option as well.

A couple of point guards from the Select Team seem like good options in Kyrie Irving and John Wall. Both were former No. 1 picks which often are invited to the team.

Some other hopefuls from the select team include Kawhi Leonard, Greg Monroe and Paul George. Rookies Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Bradley Beal and Harrison Barnes are likely to be candidates as well.

There is also a very high likelihood that there will be a few players to make the 2016 team that aren’t in the NBA just yet. Some names that come to mind are top recruits Nerlens Noel, Shabazz Muhammad and Jabari Parker.

It’s really hard to tell at this point what the roster may look like in four years but here is what I am projecting:

Point guards: Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving
Shooting guards: James Harden, Paul George
Small forwards: Kevin Durant, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kawhi Leonard
Power forwards: Kevin Love, Blake Griffin
Centers: Anthony Davis, Greg Monroe

I think in 2016, we will make sure to send over a team that has more size than the 2012 team had. Love, Griffin, Davis and Monroe will be a good foursome to have banging down low. Of course, Durant can play a lot of the four as well.

Rose and Westbrook will probably start in the backcourt. Irving is going to be a monster by 2016 and Harden will be in the conversation for best shooting guard in the NBA with George right behind him.

MKG will be the Iguodala of the team. MKG is going to be a very well-liked player at this point and considered a kind of glue guy for this team.

Leonard seems like another guy who a lot of people are high on. He was impressive in his rookie season with San Antonio and is expected to increase his role with them going forward.

Irving was the Rookie of the Year and averaged 18.5 points and 5.4 assists per game this season in 51 games. He played only 30.5 minutes per game as he was on a minutes cap because of his injury while at Duke. He also shot .469 percent from the field, .399 from three and had a PER of 21.4.

Rubio took the league by storm in the first few months before tearing his ACL. He averaged 10.6 points and 8.2 assists in just 41 games.

Kenneth Faried and Klay Thompson were third and fourth and then there was a three-way tie for the fifth spot on the First Team between Iman Shumpert, Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Knight.

The second team consists of Chandler Parsons, Isaiah Thomas, MarShon Brooks, Derrick Williams and Tristan Thompson.

The only rookie for the Thunder this season was Reggie Jackson who was getting a lot of run as the backup point guard after the Eric Maynor injury and before the Derek Fisher signing.

Jackson played in 45 games for the Thunder and averaged 3.1 points in 11.1 minutes per game. He struggled shooting from the field at just .321 percent and .210 percent from downtown.

Irving is expected to be named the 2011-12 Rookie of the Year early this week. Irving played in 51 games this season and averaged 18.5 points and 5.4 assists per game. He only played 30.5 minutes per game and was very efficient shooting .469 from the field and .399 from three.

It was a solid rookie class this season but Irving had little competition for this award.

Ricky Rubio was the talk of the league at the beginning of the season but he leveled out after a great start and then went down with a season-ending injury.

Kenneth Faried and Isaiah Thomas came on strong late but their resumes weren’t as impressive as Irving’s.

Irving will become the first Cleveland Cavaliers player to win the award since LeBron James.

The Cavaliers finished the season with a 21-45 record, third worst in the Eastern Conference. With a deep draft coming up the Cavaliers will have a chance to pair Irving up with another lottery pick.

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Thunder (2-game winning streak)
106.2 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
99.2 Defensive Efficiency (12th)
96.1 Pace (5th)
56.6 True Shooting % (2nd)
51.5 Rebound Rate (5th)

Cavaliers (1-game winning streak)
98.7 Offensive Efficiency (22nd)
103.1 Defensive Efficiency (23rd)
94.9 Pace (8th)
50.9 True Shooting % (24th)
50.4 Rebound Rate (13th)

The Thunder had a pretty good scare in their last game against Phoenix but ended up winning 115-104. The Suns outplayed the Thunder by far in the first half but the Thunder showed just how talented they are coming back to win in the second.

Tonight Cleveland comes into town and that probably sounds easier than it is. But for the Thunder, it really should be easy.

Kyrie Irving is without a doubt the frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year award this season and will have a tough matchup tonight against Russell Westbrook.

Jason Miller-US PRESSWIRE

Westbrook had to go up against the veteran Nash last game so this shouldn’t be any tougher for him. He is a far superior athlete than Nash or Irving and just coming off a Nash matchup should benefit him tonight.

The Thunder only had five players score in their win two nights ago. Luckily for them three of their players scored over 30.

Despite hitting the 30 mark, Kevin Durant had an off night going 10-for-27 from the field versus Phoenix. Durant has really not had a great shooting night in awhile now and may be due for one tonight.

Like Westbrook, Durant squared off against a savvy veteran in Grant Hill for Phoenix and was outplayed by him in the first half. Durant won’t see that kind of defense tonight and as long as he lets the game come to him, he should be fine.

The player from Cleveland that would be giving the Thunder the most trouble tonight is Anderson Varejao but he has been out for some time now and won’t suit up tonight.

James Harden is coming off a career-high 30 points against the Suns and should ride the momentum into tonight as the Thunder have a far superior second unit than Cleveland. Harden should be able to get anywhere he likes tonight and have another big game.

The Cavaliers are sixth in the NBA in offensive rebound rate but again won’t have Varejao tonight so the Thunder should be able to control the glass.

I wouldn’t expect this game to be close for very long so Thunder fans should get ready for some highlight reel plays tonight from the most exciting team in the league.