Kyrie Irving Scored 50 In His Nets Debut, An OT Loss To Karl-Anthony Towns And The Wolves

The first full night of the NBA season produced some incredible individual performances, like a 32-point, 23-rebound effort from Andre Drummond in a win over the Pacers, but there was no game that featured two better personal efforts than Timberwolves-Nets in Brooklyn.

Kyrie Irving made his Nets debut in style, dropping 50 points in the Barclays Center, but that wasn’t quite enough as he fell making a move prior to a game-winning effort in overtime, still getting off a pretty good look that rimmed out to give Minnesota a 127-126 win.

Still, Irving was sensational with 50 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in his first game as a member of the Nets, showing off his elite handles and shooting touch, going 17-of-33 from the field and 7-of-14 from deep.

However, he wasn’t the only one to have a big night at Barclays, as Karl-Anthony Towns had a monster game to lead the Timberwolves to a nice road win to start the season. Towns finished the game with 36 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, and three blocks, hitting 11-of-22 shots, including an absurd 7-of-11 from three-point range. It wasn’t just knocking down spot-up looks, as Towns showed the full repertoire, with step-backs and jab steps to create space for his shot.

Andrew Wiggins was Minnesota’s second leading scorer with 21 points, and while it took him 27 shots to get there — some of which being extremely questionable decisions — he came up big when it counted in overtime with a pair of big buckets at the rim.

The game showed the best of both teams’ stars, as well as the work both have to do in getting more consistent production from their supporting casts. The Nets looked a lot like a team still learning to play together, which is to be expected, while the Wolves have to figure out perimeter defense and how to be more efficient around Towns. Still, for an opening night game, it’d be hard to ask for much more in terms of entertainment value, and both teams have to walk away feeling like they’re headed in a good direction thanks to their superstars.