Former Duke Basketball superstar Kyrie Irving went for 50 points in his Brooklyn Nets debut but the team fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime.
Scoring 50 points in your team debut is one way to make a good impression in front of the home crowd and that’s exactly what Kyrie Irving did in his first game as a Brooklyn Net.
Irving became the seventh player in Nets franchise history to score 50 points in a single game and all he needed to accomplish the feat was one game.
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However, despite the 50-burger from the newest member of the team, the Nets fell in overtime to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 127-126.
The former Duke Blue Devil would not go down without a fight as on the final shot of the game, he tripped, kept his dribble, got up, and tried to win the game for his once hometown team but hit the back of the rim and missed the shot.
If 50 points wasn’t impressive in itself, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft flirted with a triple-double with eight rebounds and seven assists, finishing the game with no turnovers in 38 minutes.
Kyrie Irving was 17-of-33 from the field, 7-of-14 from 3-point range, and 9-of-10 from the free throw line on Wednesday night.
Brooklyn was able to erase Minnesota’s 18-point first half lead to lead by eight points in the second half, but a strong fourth quarter from the Timberwolves forced overtime.
Prior to tonight’s game, Kyrie Irving only scored 50 points once in a game before. It was on March 12, 2015 while he was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers when Irving went for 57 in a 128-125 overtime win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets will be back in action on Friday, October 25 against the New York Knicks in the Barclays Center with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST.