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Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving has seen the vast majority of his season stunted by a shoulder injury. But now that he is back in action, it appears that Irving will have relatively few limitations as it pertains to his workload, as Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson confirmed prior to tip-off Wednesday that Irving was “good to go” for the second leg of a back-to-back against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Kenny Atkinson confirms Kyrie Irving is “good to go” tonight in Philly after playing against Utah last night.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) January 15, 2020
Irving will be playing in both ends of a back-to-back for the first time since Nov. 1 and 2, having toasted the Utah Jazz to the tune of 32 points and 11 assists Tuesday.
Atkinson did not mention a minutes limit for his starting point guard, although with Garrett Temple out of the mix with the second unit, Irving may be forced to see a handful more minutes than originally predicted.
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The 76ers and Irving have become well acclimated with one another over his first nine years in the league.
Wednesday's meeting marks the 22nd time that Philadelphia has been tasked with slowing Irving's myriad moves in his offensive arsenal, although he has traditionally scuffled to put the ball in the bucket against his intra-conference rival with his 19.3 points per contest marking his second-fewest PPG average versus any team in the league throughout his career (only Brooklyn — at 19.1 PPG — has held him to a lower average).
Even without Irving, Brooklyn comfortably took Round 1 from Philadelphia back on Dec. 15.
As was the case the first time around, Joel Embiid will once again be absent for the 76ers, while the Nets will have their All-Star at their disposal.
