Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have set the league on fire during a recent hot streak with Brooklyn. The Nets have won 17 of their last 19 with Durant and Irving averaging a combined 57.5 points per game during that span.
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was asked about the Nets duo's offensive brilliance before the teams' matchup Sunday. And the two-time championship coach said Durant and Irving's commitment to continually improving sets them apart.
“I’ve heard each of them talk about the art of basketball and I think that describes each of them well,” Erik Spoelstra said. “They just continue to elevate their craft. There’s great players in this league and then there’s great players that are a different level where you can’t really do anything to scheme against them.”
“The way they can get where they want to go to and then the accuracy of how they shoot is so uncommon because they see all the different schemes, everybody is challenging them, everybody’s trying to get into their airspace,” he continued. “But they’re extremely accurate when they get to their spots.”
Erik Spoelstra on KD and Kyrie:
“There’s great players in this league, and then there’s great players that are a different level where you can’t really do anything to scheme against them." pic.twitter.com/oK4YSIHFpK
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) January 8, 2023
Kyrie Irving has been a catalyst during Brooklyn's extended hot streak since returning from an eight-game suspension in early November. The guard averaged 28.3 points per game on 51.1 percent shooting from the field and 41.9 percent from three during December with the Nets posting a 12-1 record. Irving's clutch play has propelled Brooklyn to several wins during the stretch. The fourth-year Net ranks third in the league in fourth-quarter scoring this season at 8.7 points per game.
Kevin Durant has firmly cemented himself in the MVP conversation while carrying the Nets up the Eastern Conference standings. The 12-time All-Star is having one of the most efficient offensive seasons of his career, averaging 30.0 points on 56.0 percent shooting, the league's best mark among 38 players attempting 16.5 or more shots per game.
Durant's incredible efficiency is even more impressive given he is doing it on almost entirely jump shots. Just 12.4 percent of the forward's shots have come at the rim this season. And Spoelstra had a simple response when asked how you guard Durant's patented turnaround jumper.
“No one’s figured that out,” the Heat coach said. “How did he get to that point? I don’t know, that’s a question for him. Everything I’ve heard about him, even on a recruiting trip a long time ago, you knew he’s a gym rat and that he takes his craft very seriously. That’s not accidental that he’s developed that kind of touch. That’s countless reps and study of how teams have evolved to try to defend him and take different things away.
It also helps having that skill level when you’re seven feet tall and your release point is probably 7-5 in the air, there’s nobody that can take away what he wants to get to. You just have to make it tough; you have to make his catches tough, you have to make the game tough, all the things that we want to do more consistently anyway.”
Erik Spoelstra was asked how do you guard KD’s turnaround. His response:
“No one’s figured that out.” pic.twitter.com/q3gDYc2Ptk
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) January 8, 2023
Durant and Irving have led Brooklyn to the league's second-best record after a 5-9 start, trailing only the Boston Celtics. The duo is the league's second-highest-scoring pairing behind Boston's Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
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