Kyrie Irving equalled the season best set only the day before by Karl-Anthony Towns in the Brooklyn Nets’ away win.
Berlin brothers Moritz and Franz Wagner were there live as Irving scored more points than ever before in his NBA career – albeit as a hard-hit opponent. Irving scored 60 points in the Brooklyn Nets’ 150-108 win over the Orlando Magic, hitting all eight of his team’s threes on Tuesday night (local time). “After the first half, we were trying to stop him from getting his hands on the ball – even that didn’t really work. You just can’t let players like that get comfortable early,” said Franz Wagner, who finished with 16 points. Moritz Wagner had 17, but nobody cared that night in Orlando.
The number one topic of conversation was the performance of Irving, who is ineligible to play in home games in New York because of his lack of a Corona vaccination, now becoming the first player in NBA history to score 60 points after a break. “It felt like he had all my career highs in the first 12 minutes of the game,” coach Steve Nash said of the point guard.
Towns had just scored a season best the day before
Even Kevin Durant, who was outstanding with 53 points against the New York Knicks on Sunday, was only a helper in the Irving show with his 19 points. Durant and Irving are now the first teammates in history to score at least 50 points in consecutive NBA games. Just the day before, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 60 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves, a season best that Irving has now equalled.
“When you score a lot of points as a kid, it means something. When you do it here in this league, against the best athletes, it means something more,” Irving said after his career best. He already recorded 41 points in the first half alone. The last time the great Kobe Bryant had more was with his 42 in March 2003.
