Kyrie Irving was greeted with big boos from Warriors fans on Saturday while starting lineups were announced before Golden State hosted the Brooklyn Nets at Chase Center.
The round of boos didn’t appear to bother Irving much, as he finished with a game-high 32 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Still, Dub Nation had a field day with their familiar foe.
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“We know each other well,” Irving told reporters while addressing the boos after the game. “This crowd out here, we know each other very well. It’s not any surprise when I come in here, a different arena obviously, but it’s still the same core group of fans that have a reason to cheer for their team, they’re very successful.”
Warriors fans saw plenty of Irving in three straight NBA Finals in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
And even though it wasn’t Oracle Arena, fans on the other side of the bridge at Chase Center didn’t disappoint on Saturday.
“We’ve had a lot of battles and like I said I give a lot of respect to those legends in the locker room down there,” Irving told reporters. “We’re all relatively young still, but we’re making impacts on our teams. It’s good to see Klay back out there. And it just makes the game a lot more fun when you’re going against familiar guys that you’ve been going against in the Finals, the regular-season matchups, so it feels good.”
Despite Irving’s impressive efforts, the shorthanded Nets weren’t able to outshine the Warriors, falling by a final score of 110-106.
Golden State Warriors
Brooklyn stars Kevin Durant and James Harden did not play.
And even though the outcome isn’t what he wanted, Irving appreciates the never-disappointing competition between him and the Warriors.
“It’s great to be out there as a competitor,” Irving explained. “I think that’s why we were able to answer some of their runs and just going back at ‘em. They were throwing double teams at me, throwing double teams all across the court, and we were just able to respond so we take some of the lessons from this game and carry it over.”
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Irving, who remains unvaccinated against COVID-19, was allowed to play on Saturday because San Francisco’s mandatory vaccine mandate doesn’t apply to players on opposing teams.