Kyrie Irving back on the floor for Nets
Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving (11) smiles during a break in play in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors in Toronto, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. Credit: AP/Cole Burston
Kyrie Irving wasn’t going to want to miss this one. Joe Harris didn’t have much of a choice.
A game after he sat out against Golden State with a calf injury, Irving was back with no restrictions against the Eastern Conference-leading Bucks on Friday night, a marquee matchup that, even this early in the season, carried significant weight.
Irving had to shake of a little rust, shooting 1-for-6 for three points in the first half. But he heated up with a 14-point quarter in the Nets' 118-100 victory over Milwaukee.
Meanwhile, Harris, who reported left knee soreness Friday, was ruled out. Yuta Watanabe, who was questionable with a hamstring injury, was also cleared.
“I’m going to have to go back and look at substitutions again,” coach Jacque Vaughn said pregame. “Like tonight, Joe was going to be the first sub off the bench, so it does change things. We’ll have to look at how we can get an advantage tonight strategically, when we want to play small, if we want to play small, if we’re going to add another guy to the mix. We’re still going to talk that through after this.”
After sitting out the first few games of the year as he recovered from the ankle surgeries that cost him last season, Harris has heated up of late, shooting 56.8% from three over his last nine games, and 38.2% overall while averaging 25.7 minutes over 29 games. His name has also popped up in a number of trade rumors.
Vaughn didn’t provide any further updates on the severity of Harris’ injury.
Irving, meanwhile, dropped 38 points on the Pistons on Sunday and has been (unsurprisingly) pivotal in the seven-game win streak the Nets brought into Friday. He’s averaging 29.3 points this month and hit a game-winner against the Raptors last week.
And though Vaughn was intent on not overstating the importance of Friday’s game — the Nets had won 11 of 12 and had climbed up to fourth place, but many of the wins have been against undermanned teams, or teams under .500 — he also knew that the Nets would have to be about perfect against the Bucks. It doesn’t get all that much easier after that, either, with the Nets going up against the third-place Cavaliers on Monday.
“When you’re playing a high-level team like this, those little things will definitely stick out,” Vaughn said. “This is a 'have to' night. You have to box out. You have to rebound. You have to get 50-50 balls. You have to sprint back every single time in transition. If not, you pay for it. So this is a 'have to' night tonight.”
Vaughn, though, has been successful partially because of his ability to simplify things, something players have mentioned time and again. Going into Friday having won 17 of his 24 games since taking over for the fired Steve Nash, he continued to preach consistency.
“Nothing changed for us,” he said about facing these opponents. “Our shootaround or walk-through you want to call it, same amount of time, about the same amount of clips. Philosophically, I don’t say you need to get up for this game. Always think that the game presents its own challenges. I didn’t make a big deal out of it. But we know we have to be a little bit tighter and a little bit more focused and a little bit more prepared, especially at the start of this game.”
Hat tip to Bud
Vaughn gave credit to Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer for some of the advancements in his own career (Vaughn played with the Spurs from 2006-09, when Budenholzer was an assistant, including their 2007 NBA Championship year, and served as an assistant coach with him after retirement).
“Interesting to be coached by him but then be in the same meetings with him,” Vaughn said. “That revealed why he’s such a great coach. I saw it as a player and then being in the same meetings to see how he thought overall about the game. Always on the edge analytically at that time when we were with the Spurs, pushing us in the right direction there. He's extremely prepared, loves the game and I learned a lot from him.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
