There hadn’t been all that many prolific scoring outbursts this season before the last 3 days.
On Sunday, Kevin Durant dropped 53 points on the Knicks in the Barclays Center. About 50 hours later, teammate Kyrie Irving went for a career-high 60 points against the lowly Orlando Magic.
I should mention, Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns dropped 60 on the Spurs on Monday so that there would at least be a little entertainment between Sunday and Tuesday.
Irving scored his 60 in 35 minutes of game time. He took 31 shots, making 20. Irving attempted 12 threes, making 8. He also got to the line for 13 free throws. Irving also pulled down 6 rebounds to go along with 4 assists and 4 steals. Perhaps most impressive of all, he had 1 turnover.
That’s a heckuva night for the quintessential bucket-getter. But to have the ball in his hands that much and only commit 1 turnover? Are we sure the Magic didn’t cast the wrong spell before the game? That’s a nasty night.
Oh, and he was a +36 in the game. That’ll do. The Nets won, 150-108, by the way.
Here’s what NBA Twitter had to say about Irving’s night.