Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving had a bizarre game in Thursday’s 117-112 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Despite finishing with 30 points, albeit on 11-for-27 shooting from the field. Irving had only nine points after three quarters.
During those first 36 minutes of the game, Irving was getting shots up, but did not look confident in any of his jump shots. His drives to the rim was extraordinary as always, but they were few and far between. Irving was eventually able to muster enough energy to have a fourth quarter for the ages as he scored 21 points in the final frame on 8-of-11 shooting from the field.
Unfortunately, the better performance from Irving and the heightened energy level was too little, too late as the 24-point deficit was too much to overcome. Irving spoke after the game about the team almost completing the comeback and what the Nets need to do to avoid this situation from happening again:
“I mean, game to game, it could be different how we start, but we do want to have a consistent effort that we put forth. So, I think Jacque’s right. We put ourselves in a hole, we’re down 10, 12. I mean, we give the other team confidence and just feel like they play a little bit more free. And then, when we started locking in, we come back and we can make anything happen, but sometimes, the hole is too big.”
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