CLEVELAND -- After a sporadic role with the Cleveland Cavaliers over the first five months of the regular season, veteran point guard Jose Calderon has been an integral part of the team’s run of success in the last three weeks.
And that run continued Tuesday when Calderon sunk seven of his 11 attempts from the field, including a three-for-five showing from three-point range on the way to a 19-point performance in a 112-106 victory over the Eastern Conference’s top team, the Toronto Raptors, at Quicken Loans Arena.
“I’m feeling great,” Calderon said. “I’m feeling great out there. I feel really comfortable with my teammates. I know what they want me to do or what I want them to do and how. This is a nice chemistry out there.”
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In addition to the 19 points, which were second only to small forward LeBron James, Calderon pulled down four rebounds, handed out four assists, blocked one shot, stole two passes and finished plus-27, meaning the Cavaliers outscored the Raptors by 27 points in Calderon’s 26 minutes on the floor.
“He was huge for us, obviously,” James said. “It was right from the beginning. His ability to make shots and just be very cerebral with our packages, it allows us to be successful. He’s just a smart, smart basketball player.”
11 PTS on 5 of 5 shooting to get Jose Calderon started!#AllForOne pic.twitter.com/BYyHk8yeN8
According to Calderon, his success comes as a by-product of opposing defenses concerning themselves with preventing James from taking over games, especially the Raptors, who have lost to the Cavaliers in each of the last two postseason tournaments and surrendered an average of 29.3 points per game to James this year.
“Sometimes, you get more shots than others just because of what the defense gives,” Calderon said. “I’m not going to do the 19 points every night. Sometimes, the defense played me different. I was open at the beginning, so I was just trying to exploit that, but nothing more than that.”
By playing alongside James in the starting lineup, Calderon has found himself in the enviable position of having unnaturally wide-open looks at the basket.
“Actually, it was two,” Calderon said. “I made the first one. The second one, it was like, ‘I’m by myself.’ I was waiting for somebody to come close or for somebody to pass the ball to because I always like to pass. I was looking, ‘Who’s open? Who’s open? Okay, it’s me. Let’s get this shot.’ That’s what happened. Sometimes, it’s weird how they did those rotations, but I’ve just got to take those shots.”
All of that individual success has added up to 48 wins with for games remaining in the regular season, and Calderon is relishing in that experience, as he has played in just 24 playoff games over his 12-year NBA career.
“It is great,” Calderon said. “In the NBA sometimes, you can’t choose where you’re going to play, and being here with this team, it’s been unbelievable since day one. We’ve just got to keep going. It’s the first time I got to that number, and it feels great. It feels great to get that many wins.”
