On Monday night, the Brooklyn Nets took on their crosstown rivals, the New York Knicks. Kyrie Irving had an amazing game going 13-of-18 from the field to score a game-high 34 points while dishing out 4 assists. Yes, Uncle Drew was phenomenal offensively – but it was his clutch defensive play in the final 5.7 seconds of the game that made the difference.
The Nets had the advantage for almost the entire game, leading by as many as 18 points. In the fourth quarter, Brooklyn was getting sloppy and the Knicks capitalized. New York defended well, began scoring, and just didn’t give up. In the final seconds, Julius Randle had a chance to tie the game with the Knicks trailing, 115-112.
Tom Thibodeau drew up a play for his All-Star. When Randle caught the ball, Kyrie Irving switched onto him as he tried getting a shot off from behind the arc. Before rising for the jumper, Irving sneakily tipped the ball just enough to throw Randle off. It wasn’t enough for him to drop the ball though. As the Knicks star continued to shoot, he changed his mind mid-air and decided to dribble first before shooting again.
Julius Randle was called for a travel down 3 and under 5 seconds remaining.
Nets hold on to beat the Knicks. pic.twitter.com/VssyVvtzOr
— ESPN (@espn) March 16, 2021
The league also confirmed the ruling by stating that “Irving makes contact with the ball, but does not dislodge it and does not cause Randle to return to the floor with possession. Therefore Randle must pass or shoot before returning to the floor. Since he does return to the floor with the ball still in his possession, this is a traveling violation.”
Kyrie Irving made the play of the day for the Brooklyn Nets to pick up their second win against their rivals this season. Last month, the Nets star beat himself up about his poor defense against the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first matchup. “I couldn’t guard a stick,” Irving said. A month later, the Brooklyn point guard has New York in a frenzy because of his great defensive stop.
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