Nets’ Kyrie Irving channels ‘Mamba mentality’ in 54-point masterpiece

In an instant, Barclays Center went from quiet to raucous. The atmosphere was dead one moment and thunderous the next. “Ky-rie, Ky-rie” chants could be heard in all parts of the arena.

All it took was Kyrie Irving checking back into the game. The crowd was no longer worried about a collapse, not with the team’s new superstar putting on a show this building has rarely seen from one of its own.

Hours after coach Kenny Atkinson stressed the important of the Nets piling up wins, calling it “money time,” Irving performed with that very sense of urgency in mind. And now the Nets have begun what they hope is another stretch of consistent winning after a lengthy recent slide.

In one of his best performances as a Net, Irving was at his shot-making best, pouring in a season-high 54 points, and led Atkinson’s team to a second-straight double-digit victory over an inferior opponent, this time a 133-119 win over the undermanned Bulls. Kobe Bryant, Irving’s friend and the all-time great who tragically died at the age of 41 on Sunday in a helicopter crash, would’ve been proud. Irving became the first Net since the team moved to Brooklyn to score 50 points in a game more than once in a season.

Irving re-entered the game with a 21-point lead down to eight. Immediately, that changed. He drilled a pull-up jumper, scoring the Nets’ next nine points, to put the Bulls away. His fadeaway jumper from the free-throw line pushed the Nets lead to 21 with 3:33 left. Irving was so hot, he didn’t miss his first shot until the third quarter after starting 10-for-10 and finishing 19-of-23 from the field. He sank seven 3-pointers, scored in the post and added five assists.

“Kobe mentality, Mamba mentality, I had to keep it going,” Irving said.

After losing 12 of 14 against mostly elite opponents, the Nets have won three of four and moved ahead of the Magic for seventh place in the Eastern Conference. Before the game, Atkinson had expressed hope his team’s newfound health would lead to improved results. They’ve dealt with Irving missing 28 games, 26 of them due to a shoulder impingement. Caris LeVert was out for seven weeks following thumb surgery and reserve Wilson Chandler served a 25-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs.

Even with them back, others have dealt with minor injuries, creating cohesion problems. But Atkinson now has a full complement of players and expressed the need for them to get it in gear.

“This is starting to get money time now,” he said before the game.

When Irving is playing like this, it makes everyone’s job easier. Spencer Dinwiddie added 20 points off the bench and Taurean Prince had 16.

Early on, it was apparent he was feeling it. On the Nets’ second possession, he drilled a 3-pointer, the first of his seven trifectas. He scored nine of the Nets’ first 11 points. He finished with 16 points before he came out for the first time — in 8:57 — helping the Nets build a healthy working margin. He returned midway through the second quarter and remained red-hot. Irving converted a four-point play, just a few minutes after Dinwidde’s four-point play, to put the Nets up 18. Then, later in the stanza with the Bulls getting closer, Irving brought the crowd to its collective feet.

With 4.9 seconds left, Irving hit a layup. Then, he stripped Tomas Satoransky, picked up the ball and ripped another long jumper, this time from the right wing, taking and making all 10 field-goal attempts in the opening 24 minutes. Keyed by Irving, the Nets led by 16 points at the break and by as much as 21. He missed his 11th, a right-wing fadeaway early in the third quarter.

The Bulls, however, wouldn’t go away, shooting a scorching 71 percent from the field in a 39-point third quarter that saw them get within seven entering the final stanza. But it wouldn’t matter once Irving was back. The Bulls didn’t have an answer for him. Few would have had any luck on this night.

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