It was the worst sight for the Nets: Kyrie Irving, on the court, clutching his knee. The Nets say Irving has a sprain and ESPN reported that he'll have an MRI Sunday.
The optics of his latest injury Saturday were bad. In the fourth quarter of a 113-107 loss to the Wizards in Washington, D.C., Irving's right leg appeared to get trapped underneath Bradley Beal as they fell together to the court.
Irving flipped on his stomach in clear pain, holding his leg. It all felt in slow motion. Irving held his hand to his face as teammates gathered around the point guard on the court. After a couple minutes, Irving bounced up and actually took the jump ball against Beal. For that moment, it felt like the injury was minor. But then Irving hobbled off the court, favoring his right leg. He left with 5:32 remaining and the Nets leading by 3. Then without the point guard, the Nets (21-27) crumbled to the loss against the Wizards (17-31).
Irving was coming off an extended absence because of a shoulder impingement. He has dealt with knee issues in the past, but mostly to his left one _ which suffered a fractured kneecap in 2015.
Irving has been spectacular when playing this season and, in Friday's victory over the Bulls, dropped a 54-point gem. Back in the summer, before he got Irving in the gym, Kenny Atkinson said the point guard would, on some level, "earn" the freedom to audible to offense.
It didn't take long for Atkinson to give up the joystick. And a day before the Super Bowl, the Nets coach appropriately compared Irving to the dynamic Kansas City quarterback.
"I think Patrick Mahomes does similar things, right? I'm no Andy Reid, that's for sure. But I think, yeah, you have to give great players freedom," Atkinson said. "And I think in the past with guys like Spencer (Dinwiddie), you've got to let these guys be point guards. And part of that is giving the freedom, take the stop sign off. You've got to let them go. Kyrie, I think, what the great ones do is they figure out within the context of the offense where they can get to their spots, what the mismatch looks like out of what we do ... He just did whatever the heck he wanted on that: Great job, shake his hand. You guys see it. And I think you've got to give him that freedom."
Atkinson and the Nets came into the season having established a system and offensive identity predicated on pace and 3-pointers. Irving fits the mold but is also on another level so, on nights like his 54-point outburst in Friday's victory over the Bulls, it simply becomes the Kyrie show.
Saturday was a different story before the injury, and perhaps predictable given it occurred on the second night of a back-to-back. Irving wasn't nearly as aggressive, nearly as productive. The Wizards loaded up on the star, forcing another player to beat them. Nobody obliged. Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris both missed clutch shots down the stretch.
Irving, meanwhile, didn't score until midway through the second quarter, and then he provided a glimpse of his greatness. In one sequence, Irving crossed up defender Isaac Bonga _ twice _ split two defenders, stopped on a dime with his pivot foot, sent a defender stumbling backwards with a fake pass, and connected on a turnaround fadeaway in the paint.
"One of our coaches said he's one guy I'd come pay to see play. He's that exciting," Atkinson said. "And he's a special, dynamic player."
We'll see how long Nets fans will have to wait to see Irving again.
