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Brooklyn Nets superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant have been in some kind of groove lately. Irving drops 50 on LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets. Then Kevin Durant puts up 53 against RJ Barrett and the New York Knicks. Now Kyrie comes back and puts up a 60-burger on the poor Orlando Magic.
The Durant-Irving duo are 2.5 games out of the 7th seed, but so long as they make the playoffs, they might just be the scariest team in the entire tournament depending on what shakes out with NYC's vaccine mandate situation. They may never be fully available and at full strength. But if by some miracle they ever are, look out NBA.
On this night, the Brooklyn Nets tried to put all of that noise out of their minds for a couple hours. Kyrie entered some kind of zone right after opening tip. He had 43 at the half and was simply scintillating, blistering Orlando defenders almost every time he touched the ball.
“He's just incredible,” head coach Steve Nash said following his team's 150-108 domination. “Felt like he had my career highlight reel in the first 12 minutes of the game. So that's special to watch, it's special to watch him every night but its special to watch him on night's like this where he's in total control, total command, gets wherever he wants and is able to finish amongst the trees,” Nash said. That's some high praise by Nash who's being very humble, he put hours worth of highlight reels on film for us over his back-to-back MVP seasons alone.
Irving scored 50 points on just 19 shots vs. the Hornets. In this one he had 60 on just 31 shots. He's been some sort of efficiency laser beam lately, honing in on buckets, burning anyone in his way. Standing barely 6′ tall, (Durant referred to him as 5'10” or 5'11” the other day) he becomes the franchise's highest singe-game scorer of all time and recorded a new career high for himself.
KYRIE 60 PTS. NETS FRANCHISE RECORD. pic.twitter.com/iPqO6M1DJ6
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 16, 2022
“It's just like that every game for Kyrie when you look up he got 10, 12, 14 points already,” Durant praised. “And we seen he was well on his way to a high scoring night. So 60 the night after Karl Towns had an incredible performance and then to have Kyrie do it the next night, the league is in an amazing place right now,” Durant said.
If the season ended today the Nets would visit Toronto where, like Brooklyn, Irving is not eligible to play. If they won that game, they'd be the 7th seed and take on the 2nd seed. As of now, that belongs to Giannis and the Milwaukee Bucks.
As scary as the Nets might be at full strength, they're looking at one of the most treacherous and grueling paths to the finals in recent memory. If they beat the Bucks they might then have to visit Philly or Boston, only to then have to head to Miami. And all that to then travel to say, Phoenix or Golden State for the NBA Finals. Sheesh. But it's still hard to count this team out the way their stars are playing. The flip side is that they wouldn't have home court for any of those matches and that might work out in their favor.
“I think you an see that we're both in a nice little groove right now,” Durant continued, “and we wanna continue and we know this is a huge night for Ky but he even said it coming into the locker room it's like ‘we got more to do.' And I love that mentality. Even on a special night like this,” Durant said.
Durant was pressed whether he thinks Kyrie Irving let the #nets down by not being available full time.
"I don't think so, we all got a job to do….nah, I don't think he let us down because at the same time, me as an individual, I gotta bring my best… no matter what." pic.twitter.com/JGAUDRSsLG
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) March 16, 2022
Yes, even on a night like this, Irving was talking about what comes next. And Durant loves that never settle attitude. How many times have we seen KD come off a monster game and a win this season, then nitpick the boxscore placed in front of him for a post game because his team didn't rebound or had too many turnovers? Always the perfectionist. I'm sure Tom Brady could relate.
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“You heard in the warmups when they introduced us it was a loud crowd, loud roar for Ky, he has so many fans all across the world,” Durant said. “So many people that he impacts which is on top of his talent, just being who he is everyday, to see that love was incredible. But for him to go out there and put a show on for 'em, and give 'em a memorable night makes it even better,” KD said.
“I don't usually shoot these type of shots,” Nets star guard Kyrie Irving admitted, “but I'ma just get in my Kobe bag really quick and live with the results.” Irving admitted that he was told how many points he had and so he jacked some up to try to keep scoring.
“Somebody told me on the bench what it was, and I'm just grateful it came in the flow of the game. A few shots probably I shouldn't have taken, tough ones, double teams triple teams coming but as long as I could do it with a smile on my face and my teammates weren't too angry at me it made this night worth while.”
Kyrie Irving talks about getting into his "Kobe bag" and how his teammates give him energy for performances like this one.
Adds with a laugh "the only time I get a chance to play on the road, I better come out, give everything I have."
–#NetsWorld pic.twitter.com/qu42dwDY8b
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) March 16, 2022
“Just didn't want to take up all the attention, obviously K had 53 and then moving on 'til tonight going again it just shows you we're on our way to history and in order to make history somethings are just not gonna go your way but you just gotta be able to battle through.”
"Obviously K had 53, then moving on 'til tonite, going again, it just shows you, we're on our way to history and in order to make history some things are just not gonna go your way but you just gotta be able to battle through."
-Kyrie Irving on the groove he, KD have been in pic.twitter.com/R06XosGn0M
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) March 16, 2022
Next up is Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, on the second night of a back-to-back. But Irving won't be in the fold since it's back at the crib. Luckily, they're up a game and a half over the 9th seed Hawks. But if they lose Wednesday, that situation gets dicier. Everybody is watching what happens with Irving and the city mandates.
"If Brooklyn won't let Kyrie play, I'm going to make a pitch to you directly: Kyrie, come to Houston, play for the Rockets. We'll let you play.. Uncle Drew's being benched by asinine Democratic theater."
Texas Senator Ted Cruz to Nets' guard Kyrie Irvingpic.twitter.com/ffXpQRE9QP
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 15, 2022
With three games Irving can definitely appear in left, we might continue to see him and KD make history. But will they have more than three games together to do it? If so how many more?
