"You know, it’s not any surprise when I come in here" - Kyrie Irving playfully trolls Warriors fans, with a possible reference to his dagger shot in 2016 NBA finals

Seven-time All-Star Kyrie Irving led the Brooklyn Nets against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, but was unable to get them the win. In an exciting contest, the Warriors came out on top, 110-106 thanks to double-digit scoring contributions by five players. The loss was Brooklyn’s 20th of the season, pushing them down to 6th place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Kyrie Irving showed up, scoring 32 points, grabbing seven boards, and dishing out seven assists in 39 minutes on the floor. The type of player that he is, Kyrie is accustomed to fans booing him at road games, especially when the opponent is the Golden State Warriors. In a post-game interview, Irving responded to questions about Warriors fans booing him by saying:

“We know each other well. I mean, this crowd – we know each other very well. You know, it’s not any surprise when I come in here. Different arena obviously, but it’s still the same core group of fans, that have a reason to cheer for their team – they’re very successful.”

The Warriors upgraded from the Oracle Arena in Oakland to the Chase Center in San Francisco before the start of the 2019-20 season. Prior to that, Kyrie Irving was a regular at Oracle Arena during his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Many fans will remember the dagger three that Kyrie hit, putting the Cavaliers ahead in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

A lot has changed since then, but the rivalry between the Cavaliers and Warriors was special in many ways. Kyrie Irving threw light on his matchups against the Golden State Warriors and the opponents he faced, saying:

“You know, we’ve had a lot of battles and like I said – I give a lot of respect to those legends in the locker room down there. You know we’re all relatively young still, but we’re making impacts on our team. It’s good to see Klay back out there. And it just makes the game a lot more fun, when you’re going against familiar guys – that you’ve been going against, you know in the finals, regular season match-ups. So, it feels good.”

How do the Brooklyn Nets look under Kyrie Irving’s leadership?

Klay Thompson played 27 minutes and logged 16 points, 6 rebounds and a couple of assists. Steph Curry had an all-around performance, scoring 19 points, grabbing 7 boards and dishing out 8 assists. The Warriors’ leading scorer was Andrew Wiggins, who was voted an NBA All-Star starter for the first time in his career. He dropped 24 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in 37 minutes.

The Warriors were also exceptional defensively, limiting the Brooklyn Nets to less than 40% shooting. The game was even in most other areas and despite the loss, the Nets showed some signs of good rhythm under Kyrie Irving’s leadership. Patty Mills was effective from beyond the arc, making six of his twelve three-point attempts. Irving went on to speak about the game being a learning opportunity, saying:

“It’s great to be out there as a competitor. I think that’s why, you know, we were able to answer some of their runs. And just going back at them, they were throwing double teams on me, double teams all across the court and we’re just able to respond. So, we’ll take some of the lessons from this game and carry it over.”

The Nets dropped the first game of a five-game road trip, but did so while battling to the last second. They have another tough matchup coming up against the Phoenix Suns and Kyrie’s contributions to that game will be crucial.

Kyrie Irving's job isn't just to come out and perform. He also needs to get the rest of his team involved. With Kevin Durant and James Harden missing games, Kyrie needs to take this opportunity to build chemistry with his teammates.