Nets’ Kyrie Irving says ‘staying poised’ was the reason for win over the Heat
Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving had a great game overall against the Miami Heat, but it was the tale of two halves. In Sunday’s 102-101 win, Irving finished points with 29 points, but he had only five points after halftime.
Irving started the game on fire as he had 24 points in the first half on a variety of shots with some of those being high difficulty attempts over defenders like Victor Oladipo and Jimmy Butler. In the second half, Irving was only 2-for-9 from the field as the Heat revved up the intensity on the defensive end of the floor.
Also, with Kevin Durant leaving late in the third quarter with a knee injury, Irving had to be a scorer and a facilitator at the same time. But, he handled the dual role well enough to help the Nets win the game in the end. Irving spoke postgame about what led to Brooklyn getting the win:
“Just staying poised. As you saw, there were a few turnovers down the stretch or shots that could’ve gone either way, but, in an NBA basketball game at the highest level, you’ve got to be able to stay poised and I felt like we did a great job of that. Just taking our time possession by possession knowing that mistakes inevitably are going to happen and shots are going to be missed and we just gotta make them miss.”
Brooklyn has now won 18 of its past 20 games, which is the best 20-game stretch in franchise history.
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Player grades: Kyrie Irving scores 29 in nail-biting 102-101 win over the Heat
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NBA Twitter reacts to the Nets' 102-101 win over the Miami Heat
