NEW YORK — The dazzle returned with little rust, and the Kyrie Irving show was back after a two-month hiatus at Barclays Center.
He arrived three hours before game time to work himself into a lather, and by the time his name was announced last at tipoff, the crowd was buzzing in anticipation of must-see Kyrie.
His performance was worth the wait, against the perfect opponent in the cellar-dwelling Atlanta Hawks playing without Trae Young on an unassuming Sunday evening. It wasn’t as electrifying as some of his other home showings in his Brooklyn infancy, but it was effective and efficient in a career-high 91 percent shooting night as the Nets were the Globetrotters to the Hawks’ Washington Generals in a 108-86 win.