Kyrie Irving Returns, Helps Brooklyn Nets Snap A 3-Game Losing Streak And Says Goal Is To Compete For An NBA Title

When it was over, and Kyrie Irving had scored 22 points in his first NBA game since last June, he took off his white No. 11 Brooklyn Nets jersey, walked over to his father Drederick sitting courtside and handed him the jersey as the two embraced.

“Man, I missed this. It’s year 11 for No. 11, baby, so it’s a special one for me,” Irving told Michael Grady of the YES Network after putting up 22 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 32 minutes to help the Nets snap a 3-game losing streak and overcome a 19-point deficit with a 129-121 victory in Indianapolis.

“This situation isn’t ideal but we’re going to keep battling through it.”

The situation, of course, was brought on by Irving’s refusal to get a Covid-19 vaccination, and means he can only play in road games outside of New York and Toronto. The seven-time All-Star is eligible to play in 22 of Brooklyn’s remaining 46 games, with the next one being Monday in Portland.

The Nets are now 24-12 and 14-3 on the road. Irving said the goal remains to contend for an NBA championship. Brooklyn has been the favorite to win the title all year, and Irving’s various status shifts have barely moved the needle on their championship odds — even if it remains unclear how much they will have him in the postseason.

“Oh man, it was amazing,” Irving said. “It’s just the trust of the whole organization here, from management to the coaching staff to my teammates, all of us just staying the course.

“We have a goal at the end of the season that we want to accomplish and we want to be one of those teams that’s playing for a championship trophy and we know what it takes. This situation is not ideal that we’re in but we’re going to battle through it and we’re going to do everything we can to stay together.”

In his first game since Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals last season when he had 11 points and two assists in just 17 minutes of play due to an ankle injury, Irving got off to a slow start — as did Brooklyn. Irving missed his first jump shot on a play set up by head coach Steve Nash.

“It was a welcome back gift,” Nash said of the designed play.

Brooklyn’s own Lance Stephenson poured in 20 first-quarter points en route to leading the Pacers to a 73-60 halftime lead. The man known as “Born Ready” finished with 30 points, five assists and three rebounds in his return to Indiana for his third stint with the team.

But keyed by Irving, Kevin Durant’s 39 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and James Harden’s 18 points, six assists and five rebounds, the Nets took over in the second half and earned the win. Irving’s 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter cut the deficit to 101-94. The Nets outscored the Pacers 13-3 in the final three minutes of the third.

In the fourth, Irving had a beautiful finish in traffic to put the Nets up 120-113. He scored 14 of his 22 in the second half.

“He looks like himself,” Nash said. “Not a big surprise watching him play in practice. He’s so gifted and you could see the rhythm was there. But it’s still an adaptation. We gotta give him some space here as he transitions back to playing.”

Said Durant: “The game of basketball is happy to have him back. He made the game so much more difficult for the Pacers, he’s giving us a different attack especially in the fourth quarter. And we just have to keep building on this.”

Irving will now sit out the team’s next two games before returning in Portland. Nash will have to juggle lineups and rotations with one setup for home games and another for road affairs.

“It’s going to take some time because we gotta get used to him being him on the road and not at home and things like that,” Harden said. “But we’ve been a resilient group all year and we’ll eventually figure it out.”

“We’re a veteran-led group and we know that we could get on each other a little bit more regardless of who’s in the lineup,” Irving said. “We got guys that want to play this game at a very high level, play a great brand of basketball and just leave it all out there.

“We have so many people watching us, so many people doubting us at the same time, so the odds are stacked against us but we want to come out here and put our stamp on every single game we play and if we can do that I feel we have a good chance to have a good result.”