Kyrie Irving scored 39 points in a bounce back game following a loss in Game 3. James Harden noticed that Irving didn’t approach Game 4 the same way he approached Game 3.
“When [Kyrie] is aggressive like that, nobody can guard him.” The Beard also described it as Uncle Drew having a “killer instinct” that night.
Of course from Irving’s perspective, this game held a lot of weight. It was his former team and he has a bad history with them. Every time he touched the ball he would get booed. There were even chants of “(expletive) Kyrie.” After the final buzzer, a fan was arrested and banned for life from TD Garden for throwing a bottle in Irving’s direction. To come out and have a game like that is special.
Following the game, Harden lauded Kyrie Irving’s mental toughness.