Kyrie Irving Drops 30 on Wizards, Nets Squeak By
NETS 119 – WIZARDS 118
Kyrie Irving displayed how important he can be to the Nets, when the unvaccinated star is allowed on the floor that is, as Kevin Durant remains sidelined with a MCL sprain. Irving posted 30-points on 13-of-23 shooting as the Nets squeaked past the Washington Wizards 119-118 in D.C., Wednesday night.
As dominant as Irving was on Wednesday, it didn’t excuse the fact that Brooklyn nearly blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter. The Nets were up 102-89 after Patty Mills nailed a 16-foot jump shot with 10:33 to go.
Kyrie with 30 points and 7 assists in the Nets 119-118 win over the Wizards!@KyrieIrving #NBAAIIStar pic.twitter.com/7k16kg4ojg
— NetsWorld.org (@NetsWorldOrg) January 20, 2022
However over the next four minutes, Washington would go on 14-2 run with Deni Avdija, Kyle Kuzma, and Spencer Dinwiddie all hitting key free throw shots.
Irving responded to the challenge with a driving layup to end the Washington run, and Kessler Edwards hit a three for Brooklyn to put the Nets back in front by six, 109-103. James Harden added a layup of his own at 4:58 to make it 111-103.
Still, Washington would not go away. A jumper by Kuzma and a Montrezl Harrell slam dunk cut the Nets lead back down to two-points with 3:19 to go.
LaMarcus Aldridge answered with back-to-back jump shots to give the Nets a 117-111 lead, before Washington stormed back again. The tug-of-war went all the way to the final seconds when Kuzma nailed a three-pointer with 36.6 seconds to go that shaved the Nets lead down to a single point, 119-118.
After Irving and Harden had their respective shots go awry, both Kuzma and former Net, Spencer Dinwiddie missed potential game winning three-pointers in the waning seconds as the Nets held on.
