The score was 80-73, in favor of the Nets, as the third quarter wound down. Brooklyn had kept Chicago at a modest distance for the majority of the game, and the few moments where they had slipped, it was often Kevin Durant who responded with a momentum-shifting bucket. The game smelled like a classic, hard-fought victory over a quality opponent that would, by no means, hand the game to Brooklyn.
There was just one problem: Kyrie Irving was nowhere to be found. With Durant scheduled for some early fourth-quarter rest, and Irving having only played 13 first-half minutes, he was going to have to step up to prevent a queasy, come-from-ahead loss.