The Nets held up to their opponents' frantic counterattacks, narrowly defeating the Wizards by one point at 119-118, continuing to bite the Bulls and Heat, ready to rush to the first place in the East.
Kyrie Irving played his best performance of the season, shooting 13-of-23 from the field, scoring 30 points and seven assists, and in the last minute, Harden encountered strict restrictions from opponents, and played consecutive key goals to avoid the doom of the game.
But the better Irving performs, the more tangled the Nets fans become. Because he refused to get vaccinated, the Nets struggled in every way, so that everyone couldn't help but want to scold him, but once on the court, he could always use the artist-like way of playing, so that you couldn't help but clap his hands and applaud him from the bottom of his heart.
Such An Irving makes people helpless, and such a Net makes people regret. If you're a fan of them, you're sure to rejoice in this hard-won victory, but with it, there's definitely a heart-wrenching pain.
Because of the local vaccine regulations in New York, Irving, who refused to be vaccinated, could not play in the home game, and the Nets decided not to use Irving for the time being in order to ensure the continuity of the lineup at the beginning of the season. Later, the team struggled, coupled with constant injuries, the Nets were forced to compromise and agree to Irving's part-time game, and the storm had already come to an end.
Recently Kevin Durant suffered a knee injury and will be out of the game for several weeks, Irving is in good shape after his comeback, so people want to know whether Irving will change his position and agree to get vaccinated to help the team get through the difficulties.
After the last away game against the Cavaliers, a reporter threw the topic to Irving, but Irving refused, completely blocking the Nets fans' thoughts, and blaming the questioner for confusing his decision on vaccines with basketball, as if he was really just an "outsider", the Nets' struggle, and he did not have a half-cent relationship.
For such a "selfish" Irving, fans grit their teeth with hatred, and even industry insiders have shown their eyes.
NBA Hall of Famer Dave Bin said of Irving in an interview, saying: "I'm very disappointed in Irving's position on covid-19 vaccines, I respect his choice but very disappointed. Because basketball is a team sport, he let his teammates down. ”
ESPN commentator Charles Barkley mocked Irving with "Half Man, Half A Season" and said directly: "I won't talk about this guy anymore, I just want them to lose." That's the end of the topic! ”
If Irving is just an ordinary NBA player, no one cares if he plays or not, because a lot of people can replace his position on the court, and there are many talented superstars in the league, which people are happy to appreciate.
But Irving is a unique player, you can even say that he is one of the most outstanding offensive players in the history of basketball, the most enjoyable game, and the most artistic style of play.
In the summer of 2019, the Nets, who had just moved their home stadium to Brooklyn and replaced the new owner, in order to gamble on the championship, the five-year maximum salary was introduced to Durant, who had been determined to be suspended for at least a year because of the rupture of the Achilles tendon, and also recruited his good friend Irving. A year later, they sacrificed almost all of their future assets in exchange for Harden, hoping to reach the championship podium under the leadership of the Big Three.
The Nets' big three combination, while questionable on the defensive end, is still exciting because of its all-time top offensive talent. It turns out that as long as the Big Three are present, even if their defensive performance is lower than the league average, they can win the vast majority of games just by attacking.
In last year's division semifinals, if it were not for the Nets' consecutive injuries at key moments, the last laugh would not be the Bucks.
So this season, as Harden and Irving return to health, people naturally have high expectations for the Nets, and before the start of the season, in the predictions of major media, they were listed as the number one championship favorites. Unexpectedly, because Irving resolutely did not vaccinate, the Nets became the paper tiger that "bullying soft and afraid of hard" today.
It turns out that Irving, who has not played for half a season, has not wasted his skills. Since his comeback, he has played a total of 5 games, before 4 games and 3 times to cut 20+, only a game against the Bulls because the team led early, there is no need for him to exert power, so in the end only 9 points out of 4 out of 10.
Facing the Wizards today, although the opponent is not in good condition recently, it is more tired of injuries, and now all the staff are back to health, and the strength should not be underestimated. As a result, Irving felt hot as soon as he opened the game, scoring 12 points in five of his first six shots, allowing the Nets to quickly grasp the initiative.
At halftime, Irving made 9-of-12 shooting and contributed 22 points and four assists to help the Nets establish a double-digit lead 74-62.
Not only that, as people have always had in mind, today's Irving, while maintaining efficient output, also continues to give wonderful highlights, almost every goal seems to be at ease, let people look mesmerized, as long as you really like basketball, even if you are not a Nets fan, it is difficult not to applaud him.
By the second half, the Wizards had significantly increased their defensive intensity, making the Nets' offensive difficulty steeper. With 3:42 left in the third quarter, Yatsumura hit a three-point shot to narrow the point gap to single digits. After the timeout, the Nets replaced Harden with Irving, and he immediately stabilized the situation with two gorgeous back-down jump shots.
But the Wizards' counterattack did not end here, in the fourth quarter, their iron barrel formation made Harden constantly hit the wall and made frequent mistakes, and after Dinwiddie assisted Harrell's dunk before the final 6 minutes and 39 seconds, the score on the court has been chased to 103-104!
At the crucial moment, it was Irving who stepped forward again, an acceleration over Pope, and the confrontation threw a scratchpad hit. In the next leg, he accurately found rookie Edwards and gave the opponent a three-point assist.
Three minutes and 58 seconds before the finale, Irving scored the best goal of the game, dribbling and moving, passing Bill and Kuzma in a row, and changing his left hand in the air to wipe the ball into the basket. This goal not only fully demonstrated Irving's outstanding ball control skills and perfect finishing ability, but also allowed him to achieve his first 30+ performance of the season.
Euphon still had the chance to kill the game with a large three-pointer 31.7 seconds before the final, but it was a pity that it was not a fraction of a centimeter. Despite this, his 4 points and 3 assists in the most glued moment of the fourth quarter game still played the role of a fixed needle.
As Harden struggles with the referee's scale of the referee and his own cold outside feel, Irving's idly walking performance on the court is particularly impressive.
Irving's outstanding performance makes people briefly forget the nets' plight - according to previous reports, Durant is expected to rest for 4-6 weeks due to a sprained medial secondary ligament in his left knee, and although the Nets have 9 away games in the next 12 games, opening the door for Irving to play, they also have to face the Nuggets, Warriors, Suns, Jazz, Heat and other strong players in a row.
What's even more deadly is that if Irving insists on not getting vaccinated, then by the time it really matters, there are still about half of the games that he won't be able to play. By then, how far can the Nets, which are only 2.5 giants, go?
For the dream of the championship, Boss Cai spared no expense, and the luxury tax alone will exceed $100 million this season; for the dream of the championship, Durant averaged 36.5 minutes per game after being seriously injured until he fell down from injury; for the dream of the championship, Harden left the Rockets who had been playing for 8 years and made great sacrifices in terms of shooting power and status; for the dream of the championship, Griffin, Aldridge, Mills and other veterans have given up a better salary, a more leisurely life, and joined this team....
But will all these investments and sacrifices yield the desired results? How many people will owe Owen's stubbornness to pay for it? Or even regret it for the rest of your life?
There are Irving's Nets, full of endless possibilities. Because of this, the part-time Irving makes people both love and hate!