FILM STUDY: Was Kyrie Irving to blame for the loss against the Miami Heat?

In case you missed it, Brooklyn suffered one of its most painful losses of the season against the Miami Heat on Monday as Bam Adebayo hit game-winning pull-up jumper. Though Miami earned some press for what could be a turnaround moment in its season, it was the Brooklyn Nets and Kyrie Irving who were at the center of mainstream attention (that whole “villain” thing really seems to hold some weight).

Famously, the Nets went scoreless in the final three-and-a-half minutes of the game; and Kyrie Irving shot 0-for-8 when guarded by Bam Adebayo, a statistic that hip-hopped around social media faster than you can say “trending topic.”

With Irving going solo for the Nets after Kevin Durant exited with a left thigh contusion, the Heat threw a variety of coverages at Kyrie to get the ball out of his hands; traps, blitzes, and switches... whatever it took to take the superstar guard out of his rhythm. And though Irving made some strong plays initially, connecting on passes to corner shooters and beating traps with his strong first-step, Miami’s aggressive defense eventually wore him down and forced him into isolation mode.

After the game, Irving took full responsibility for the loss — a commendable act as the team’s solo star. But after watching the film again, I had some questions. Was the loss solely Irving’s fault? And could’ve his teammates done anything to ease the load on Kyrie?

In this video, I answered those questions and reported my findings to the masses.

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