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Kyrie cleared to play in home games
After nearly a full season without being allowed to play in Brooklyn home games, Nets guard Kyrie Irving has been cleared to do so.
As an unvaccinated player, Irving was only allowed to play in road games due to New York guidelines but that wasn’t the case until the calendar flipped to 2022.
Before that, he was out entirely at the discretion of the Brooklyn organization.
But between the health status of forward Kevin Durant and guard James Harden forcing his way out and onto Philadelphia, it cleared a runway for Irving’s return.
Irving has excelled in his role as a part-time player with flashes of scoring brilliance several times.
He scored 30-plus points eight times and 40-plus three times. All of which have come since March 8th.
He had 50 and 60-point games within a week of each other.
Brooklyn is 40-36 and trying to tread water and get in better position for the play-in tournament.
First week back at home for Kai
Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving slowly drifted back to Earth after torching several nets around the league.
Ironically enough, the Barclays Center courts have posed the biggest obstacle for him.
Irving logged back-to-back 40-plus minute games this week for the first time since last January.
In addition, he posted two of his more inefficient games, shooting under 40% in both. He has shot under 40% six times this season.
He only had four such games through the first 21 games of the season.
Irving was even under 30% in one of the games this week for the time this season and the first time since April of last year.
He had 16 points on 6-of-22 from the field including 1-of-9 from three in a nine-point loss to the Charlotte Hornets Sunday, March 27.
Two nights later, he scored 24 points on 7-of-18 shooting and 4-for-8 from three in a seven-point win over the Detroit Pistons.
Road to the Finals out West goes through Phoenix
A seventh straight win has clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and homecourt throughout the 2022 playoffs for the Phoenix Suns.
Phoenix beat Denver on the road, 140-130, behind a season-high 49 points from guard Devin Booker. On that night, he shot 16-of-25 from the field and nailed 15 of his 17 free throw attempts.
In addition, he added 10 assists, four rebounds, three steals and a block. Not to mention, 13 assists from future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul.
Booker’s previous season-high was 48 points at San Antonio in January.
The win improves the Suns to 60-14 on the year before adding two more wins to close the week 62-14.
The 62-win mark ties a franchise-record with six games left to play.
Phoenix has won 62 games two other times, in the 1992-93 season as well as the 2004-05 season.
The Suns lost in the Finals in the former year and lost in the Western Conference Finals in the latter year.