Irving stars for Brooklyn in Big Apple NBA battle
■ Irving stars for Brooklyn in Big Apple NBA battle
Los Angeles, Oct. 26: The Nets, out to make Brooklyn the center of New York City’s NBA universe, edged the Knicks 113-109 Friday, but not before a fourth-quarter dogfight.
Brooklyn’s new star Kyrie Irving didn’t match the 50 points he dropped in a heartbreaking seasonopening loss to Minnesota, but his 26 points included a stepback three-pointer with 22.4 seconds to play that gave the Nets a 111-109 lead that they wouldn’t give up.
“Ah man, I just had to get to my spot, make sure my elbow was pointed and, you know, gratefully it went in,” Irving said of the shot that drew comparisons to his game-winner in game seven of the 2016 NBA Finals for Cleveland.
Allonzo Trier’s 22 points helped the Knicks erase a 19-point deficit and take a three-point lead with 3:41 to play.
Irving said his only message to his teammates as the Knicks poured on the pressure was “stay poised, stay calm.”
Irving ramped up the Big Apple rivalry on Thursday when he said at a promotional event that the Nets were “going to take over the whole city.
“It’s about us,” said Irving, who was booed by Knicks fans who crossed the Brooklyn Bridge for the game at the Barclays Center.
Nets fans had their say as well, with taunting reminders that it was
Brooklyn that won the offseason free agent contest with the acquisition of Irving and former league Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant — who is still recovering from an Achilles tendon injury.
Lakers bounce back
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, who lost their season-opener on Tuesday to their upstart cross-town rivals the Clippers, bounced
back with a 95-86 victory over the Utah Jazz.
James scored 32 points with 10 assists and seven rebounds and Anthony Davis scored 21 points with seven rebounds.
Davis also blocked five shots as the revamped Lakers delivered an impressive defensive performance.
“The more we can defend like this, the easier it’ll be for us,” said Davis after the Lakers harried the Jazz into 23 turnovers
that yielded 22 Los Angeles points.
“That’s who we are,” James said of the defensive effort. James scored 12 points in the third quarter and the Lakers led by 19 heading into the final frame — when they stretched the advantage to as many as 22.
T-Wolves win again
There was no let-down for the Minnesota Timberwolves after their
one-point overtime victory over the Nets on Wednesday in the face of Irving’s 50-point explosion.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 37 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and handed out eight assists as the Timberwolves won their second straight — 121-99 over the Charlotte Hornets.
Towns connected on 13 of 18 shots from the field, making four threepointers.