The entire Brooklyn Nets team had something to throw for a festivity even though the game wasn’t over yet against the San Antonio Spurs, as Kyrie Irving took off for an unimagined powerful putback jam.
With around two minutes remaining in the second period, Yuta Watanabe missed his free-throw jumper. But in an unexpected fashion, Irving was there for a major takeoff that jolted the entire Barclays Center arena into a frenzy.
The All-Star guard’s jam provided the Nets that needed war cry to easily seal their 12th win in a row, outlasting the Spurs to a 139-103 win.
“I didn’t know he could do that,” Ben Simmons said, via Kristian Winfield of New York Daily News.
Irving, for his part, can only be glad that he is able to preserve his body for needed moments after that traumatic ankle injury he sustained back in the 2021 Playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks.
“On a serious note I’m glad I can have those type of plays at times to galvanize the group. Glad it went in. Good timing,” he said. “I’ve been working on my body for the last year and a half two years especially recovering from that traumatic ankle injury I had during the 2021 playoffs. I just felt like I didn’t have my feet underneath me at the end of last season, so coming into this season, I definitely put an emphasis on being more on my toes and getting stronger and my foundational base.”
Irving’s thunderous two-point hammer only contributes to his 27 points. He grabbed eight boards and shot 11-for-14 from the field to lead all the scorers on a victorious night. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant contributed with his 25 markers while dishing out a game-high 11 dimes.
“Probably a big smile on my face [after Irving’s putback],” coach Jacque Vaughn said in postgame. “We actually just replayed it right there to the group. We talked about it, about celebrating each other and for him to have a dunk and our guys appreciate and enjoy it and really cheer him on is pretty cool.”
Under Vaughn, the Nets are now rolling and enjoying life with the second-best record in the league at 25-12, an uplifting turnaround after a nightmarish start this 2022-2023 season bannered by Irving’s controversial antisemitism and Steve Nash’s departure from top coaching slate.
The Nets will look to keep their sizzling momentum beating as they are set to hit the road to face the Chicago Bulls this Wednesday.
