Kyrie Irving Career Night Not Enough To Push Nets Over Top in Home Debut
Kyrie Irving is a rising star and Brooklyn needs to step up its game.
The point guard’s debut in his first hometown game was historic, but comes to a close when Brooklyn loss in overtime to Minnesota. Irving scored 50 points in the first half, clearing out against Josh Okogie with only 14 seconds in overtime, losing his balance and gaining possession of the ball, only to miss the hoop at the buzzer.
“He was outstanding. Obviously, a great debut for him. Just disappointing we made such a big hole for us,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “The first half we were completely out of sync.”
Wednesday night was the highest-scoring debut with its seventh 50-point outing for the Nets. This is not enough for the team, especially coming out flat with 18 points in the first half and loss a six point edge in the second. Irving grabbed eight rebounds and seven assists with no turnovers.
“None of that matters unless you get the win. The race is to get as many wins as you can,” Irving said. “Job wasn’t done. So that 50 goes into just another few numbers. It holds value but not really when you don’t get a win. Obviously some missed opportunities under the rim or open shots. We’ll knock them down.”
He was set to finish the game, but then he slipped and the ball went off the rim and Minnesota won the game. This was not a happy ending and yet for Irving, he wanted to win. “The 50 is just another number, doesn’t mean anything.” Irving said “We have 81 more to go,” he said. “We’ll learn from this. We’ll get better because of this.”
