Kyrie Irving: 'I Love Beating The Knicks'
Kyrie Irving grew up in New Jersey watching the New Jersey Nets play the New York Knicks. Irving, who was a Nets fan in his youth days, understood the magnitude of the New York area when the two teams competed on the same hardwood. That's one of the reasons why when the Knicks pop up on the schedule, he's ready to put on a winning show.
"This is a different feeling for me because I grew up in New York, New Jersey," said Irving on playing against the Knicks. "So I've you know watched plenty of series being down in my den at my best friend's house. Whether watching the game with my father or his father or watching the game and my father just admiring the guys playing at Madison Square Garden, the Continental Airlines Arena.
"So for me, I love beating the Knicks and playing against them. But all in all, it's just about the objective, which is winning the ball game. Nothing personal.”
After a scoreless third quarter on extended rest, the Nets guard went into 'winning time' on a mission to put the ball through the basket. In the words of fourth-year big Nic Claxton, Irving is 'gonna show up every single time in the fourth quarter.'
"It's always good when you have somebody — I think he leads the league in points in the fourth quarter – that you know is just gonna show up every single time in the fourth quarter," said Claxton on Irving's fourth quarter performance. "It’s big. He always steps up, he’s always even-keel, no matter the score of the game. We just rallied behind him and got the win."
He dropped 22 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter to slam the doors on Brooklyn's ninth-straight win over New York. Along the way, the superstar point guard left the sellout 18,100 Barclays Center crowd, which was filled with Knicks fans, in awe. One of those fans was legendary men's college basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who coached Irving during his one-and-done year at Duke University.
“I think what people don’t understand is the confidence that he gives the other guys. There’s something to be said about that," said Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn on Irving's play down the stretch. "The game gets close. It’s a three-point game, it’s a six-point game and when the ball is in the hands of a guy that you know can produce a shot there’s a comfort level that permeates with the rest of the group.
"We’re going to get a quality possession here. We’re going to get a good shot here and it’s probably going to go in. It relieves some of the stress that could happen at the end of a game with the other guys. I think that’s really the key of having dudes who could just get you a bucket at the end of the game.”
Irving has not lost to the Knicks in games he's played in since joining the Nets in 2019. Outside of extending Brooklyn's longest-win streak vs. any opponent, the win put a big smile on the face of the New Jersey kid manifesting what he used to watch on his television growing up.
