Coming in to Tuesday night's game versus LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets, Kyrie Irving was only eligible to appear in six more regular season games for the Brooklyn Nets. Just six!

So presumably, he knew he needed to make each one count. Irving was an absolute assassin against the Hornets and sent a reminder to an NBA (who let's face it, really didn't need one) that no matter how many road blocks this Nets team faces, they won't be an easy playoff out. That is, if they get there. The Nets are in some dire straits in terms of the standings. They were tied with the Hornets for the 8th seed coming into the contest, a 132-121 win. They now hold a one-game lead for that spot.

The Nets will say this wasn't a statement game, but man, did Irving make a statement. He had his fifth career 50-point performance, which he pulled off on top of six dimes, three boards, one steal and one block. The most amazing part is that he did that on just 19 total field goal attempts, shooting a blistering hot 15-of-19. The sharpshooter hit 9-of-12 from distance.

“He's incredible, he's a career highlight real every time, every night so we obviously have a special player on our hands,” head coach Steve Nash said.

Kevin Durant, for his part, had the perfect reaction. He just paused for a moment and started clapping. It was a homage to the round of applause Irving gave Durant when KD became the fastest player in NBA history to crack 25,000 total career points on Sunday.

But this time, it was Durant's turn to clap, video courtesy of SNY Sports.

“I've been saying it – it's pure. Everything he does is pure,” Durant added. “I seen it in his eyes to start the game, he wanted to play better last game, so he came out here tonight and wanted to impact the game from the start.

“Younger players should watch this game and learn what it takes to score at that level as 5'10, 5'11”, for him to score that easy, I mean that was just masterclass.”

The Nets are obviously still hopeful something changes between Tuesday night and the playoffs, but they can no longer reasonably expect that change to come. NYC Mayor Eric Adams has made clear he at least sees the benefit to maintaining current vaccine mandates that apply to venues like Barclays Center. So there's a world where we only see Kyrie a few more times this season.

He's making them count.