In an announcement Nets fans have been waiting for all season, New York City Mayor Eric Adams exempted athletes and performers from the city’s vaccination mandates Thursday, opening up Kyrie Irving to appear in home games for the first time this year.
Finally, the Irving saga that’s spanned the course of this already-dramatic season comes to a conclusion. The mandate barred Irving from playing at Barclays Center, but the team decided against having him compete part-time initially. With their record slipping and multiple players missing time due to health and safety protocols, Irving got a chance to step in and play road games.
But this change in policy could not have come any sooner for Brooklyn. Although they’re expected to contend for a title, they currently sit in the East’s eighth seed, potentially forcing them into the play-in tournament come season’s end. Beyond that, any question as to Irving’s status in the postseason would all but erase their championship hopes.
Now, Irving gets to return to his normal routine and the Nets get their star point guard back full-time. What does this mean for this crucial upcoming stretch and whatever lies ahead?
In the 20 games we’ve seen of Irving this season, he’s looked par for the course as one of the league’s most gifted and engaging scorers of all-time. He’s currently averaging 28.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists on 52.6% shooting on twos and 43.8% from three. That scoring figure would be his career high, and only LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo have better counting stats.
It’s no surprise then that the Nets have fared exponentially better with Irving. Brooklyn’s outscoring opponents by 4.2 points per 100 possessions with him on the court, which would be the seventh-best net rating in the league. Without him, they’re beat by 0.8 points, explaining their mixed record. In what’s been a powerful reminder of Irving’s impact, he scored 50, 22, 60 and 43 in his last four performances.
The Nets will need Irving at this level every night. They’re 3.5 games out of avoiding the play-in with nine games remaining, leaving a tight window. To make matters worse, the team ahead of them in seventh is Toronto, with a 2.5 game advantage and a hometown mandate that would prevent Irving from participating in a play-in up in Canada.
If Brooklyn can’t at least catch up to the Raptors, we’re looking at a road play-in game without Irving, which should they lose would leave them one loss away from elimination. Despite how good the Nets are at full strength, anything can happen in just one game, and getting booted before the postseason even begins would be massively disappointing.
Luckily, half of their remaining contests are softballs and six of the nine are at home. They also get to face Cleveland once more, the team currently in the sixth and final secure playoff spot.
The fully realized Durant-Irving pair will undoubtedly do what they can to position the Nets to make a real run, now that the mandate obstacle is gone. However, a bigger question remains: is Ben Simmons going to be healthy and available? And if so, when?
Brooklyn fans may have to wait longer for that answer, but at least one sticking point of the season is now resolved. Irving will make his home debut Sunday to raucous applause, a mix of excitement and relief, knowing the Nets have one of their stars back and ready to go. Just in time.
