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The Brooklyn Nets didn't have their prettiest or most dominant win of the season against the Houston Rockets. That one was actually back on Jan. 12 when the old big three of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving thrashed DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls. It was a few months ago, but it feels like several seasons back after all that has transpired.
Now Harden is gone and Irving is full-time again. While not much has gone according to script or plan, the Nets did actually receive some fortune on Tuesday night. Not only did they polish off a surprisingly frisky Rockets team, the Atlanta Hawks lost to the Toronto Raptors. Pascal Siakam came through for the Raptors (and consequently for Brooklyn too) by dropping 31 points on the Hawks in a key win.
Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving recorded his fourth 40-point game of the season against the Houston. Despite appearing in far fewer contests this campaign, he has nearly matched his total of 40 point games from last season:
Per Nets PR:
Kyrie Irving (42 points) has recorded his fourth 40-point game of the season and his 12th as a Net, second only to Vince Carter (17) in Nets NBA history.
Most 40-point games in a season in Irving's career:
5 – 2020-21 (Nets)
4 – 2021-22 (Nets)
4 – 2016-17 (Cavs)
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) April 6, 2022
After the 118-105 victory, Kyrie was told the Nets can lock up that seventh seed because of the key loss by Atlanta at the hands of Toronto.
“Oooh,” Irving exclaimed gleefully. “I mean it's still a matter, but we obviously want to land in a better spot than we are now, and if other teams are helping us out, then I'm grateful for that.” Irving paused, cocked his head, and flashed a wry smile, understanding that his conference rivals certainly didn't intend to gift the Nets anything.
Kyrie Irving was told that if the Nets win out, they'll lock the 7th seed because of key losses by teams like Atlanta.
"Ooh… if other teams are helping us out, I'm grateful for that." pic.twitter.com/sn03vRFvV2
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) April 6, 2022
To show his “gratitude” makes it a very subtle but very clear burn for Trae Young and company. Young had a couple patented shoulder shimmies for the Nets and waved them off of the court after that win:
Trae Young hits the dagger then gestures for the Nets to go on home pic.twitter.com/0r7hDGndCh
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) April 3, 2022
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What do you wanna bet Kevin Durant and Kyrie bookmarked that moment in the clip above and vowed a bit of sweet revenge should they get the chance?
Irving finished with 42 points, six dimes, and three rebounds. After the game, he talked about how circumstances beyond their control can help or hurt them, but he and Kevin Durant prefer having the chance to control their own destiny.
“This is different, this is a different scenario with this play-in tournament-type deal,” Irving said. “And I don't want to say it forces teams, but it puts you in a position where you gotta rise your game up to the challenge. And we've faced teams where we've been on the other side of that losing [recent losses to the Hornets and Hawks], then tonight getting a win, then seeing how the uncontrollable outcomes of the other games impact us. So we'd rather be in the driver's seat and sit comfortably and control our own destiny,” Irving said.
After losing that huge game vs. Young's Hawks last weekend, the Nets were in dire straits, relegated to the No. 10 seed. But now they're back in the No. 8 slot. If they win their remaining three games (at Knicks, then home vs. Cavs and Pacers), they'll clinch the seventh seed.
That's huge because it would mean two things. One, they'd be in the top half of the play-in tournament, where one win means you're in the playoffs (as the No. 7 seed) and one loss does not mean you're eliminated; it means you get to play again (winner gets the No. 8 seed).
The bottom half is much dicier, where an initial win means you need another victory and an initial loss means you're gone fishing. Now everything is simpler. Brooklyn controls its own destiny to host a play-in game. Say that last line with me again and breathe a sigh of relief. Things felt a little touch and go there for a minute. It wasn't but a few weeks ago we were analyzing a possible play-in game up in Toronto without Irving altogether.
That's no longer in the cards. Now, three games to go, win and you get to play host to whoever finishes eighth. If they can't do it, then there's a good chance they'll be on the road for the first game of the play-in.
For now, Irving and Durant are pretty grateful to Trae Young for falling short up in Canada.
