Nets star Kyrie Irving got into a verbal spat with a Garden fan at the end of the first half Wednesday. Then he led Brooklyn to a come-from-behind win in the second.
Television cameras caught Irving doubling back as he was walking to the locker room with the Nets down by 17, as a fan holding a cell phone said something to him. The All-Star went back and tapped the fan next to him and exchanged words.
“East coast basketball at its finest. People just yelling random s–t from the crowd. Wanted a reaction, they got one,” Irving said after the Nets’ 110-98 comeback win over the Knicks. “I think I tapped the wrong person, so I apologize to the random guy that I tapped. He looked at me with a surprising look on his face. … Somebody said something and I was just fed up with our performance.
“And I’ve dealt with just East Coast type of attitude since I was 7, 8 years old. So I’ve been in the trenches, as they would say, growing up, playing in different boroughs, being a Jersey kid not getting respect from New York basketball until I just stopped giving an eff about what their opinion was.”
Irving finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He had all but one of those assists in the second half, when the Nets outscored the Knicks 60-31 and he never came off the floor.
Kevin Durant had 32 points, 11 assists and 10 boards, only the fourth Nets triple double versus the Knicks, and first with 30 points. Asked if he thought the back-and-forth with the Garden fan fired up Irving, Durant said it did.
“It fires everybody up,” Durant said. “No matter the records, no matter who is on the court, no matter who the coaches are, I feel it’s always going to be one of those games, a tough physical game no matter who what it’s going to play hard. It’s going to be an up and down rivalry.
“It’s going to build our own little basketball culture here which is going to be fun. Knicks and Nets at the end of the day is going to be fun. Knicks and Nets and at the end of the day it’s all New York. So it’s good to have that.”
Durant has won 12 straight games he has appeared in against the Knicks. His last loss was April 7, 2013 with the Thunder.
Irving wore a shirt honoring his basketball hero Kobe Bryant. The late Lakers legend died Jan. 26 2020, the same day the Nets had been playing the Knicks at the Garden. Irving had been too emotionally distraught to play upon hearing the news.
“It definitely kind of brings that nostalgic feeling of what happened,” said Irving. “But I think that’s the beauty of life. We get the chance to redeem ourselves and play through that and feel a little uncomfortable and his spirit was definitely in the building.”
Seth Curry (ankle) returned and had 15 points. … Goran Dragic is still in protocols and in Atlanta, but is feeling better.
