Yuta Watanabe appears to be in complete awe as Kyrie Irving slams down a dunk
With 8:52 left in the second quarter and the Brooklyn Nets leading by 19 points, something unexpected happened. Yuta Watanabe’s jump shot at the nail hit the back of the rim, and Nic Claxton normally jumped in to pick up the miss. Instead, it was Kyrie Irving, who was rushing from the left wing and was looking to take a stance.
A one-handed putback dunk from Irving caused the 18,224 people in the sold-out audience to leap to their feet and go wild. Gregg Popovich, the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, took a timeout shortly after his colleagues emerged off the bench in shock.
After the dunk, Irving stared towards the Nets bench as shocked spectators spilt onto the floor, including mature men who then became little boys.
Irving, who had a game-high 27 points, added with a smile, “I’m like this close to getting tired [of] people downplaying my athleticism at times in that locker room. I’m like this close.”
Through this game-changing run, Jacque Vaughn’s squad has triumphed in a number of different ways, strengthening its ability to work as a unit and to win games it may have otherwise lost. But the Nets have never won with such ease.
Few players in basketball history have been able to surpass Irving’s performance, who scored 15 of his points in the first quarter. He could switch hands and finish with his left after slashing into the lane. He could easily elude any defender and complete the play with a floater. He was able to execute step-back after step-back, making four of his five attempts from a great distance.
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