Kyrie Irving hits buzzer-beater over Fred VanVleet to lift Nets past Raptors

Kyrie Irving came up clutch on Friday night in Toronto.

Irving sent Fred VanVleet sliding and drilled a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Brooklyn Nets past the Raptors 119-116 at Scotiabank Arena.

With just 3.1 seconds left on the clock, Ben Simmons inbounded a pass from the sidelines after a VanVleet foul with the score tied up at 116. Irving caught the ball at the logo and took three hard dribbles to the right, the last of which sent VanVleet sliding to his left as Irving came back the other way.

His step-back 3-pointer was perfect.

The bucket concluded what was an 18-point comeback for the Nets, who have now won five games in a row.

“A lot of confidence, team trust and just getting my feet underneath me,” Irving said on the YES Network. “I talked to my dad before I came on this trip. Shoutout to my dad, he told me to get my balance underneath me every time I shoot my threes. Haven’t been shooting as great as I want on the season, but just gotta keep repping it out. Once you got the ball in your hands at the end of the game, it’s what you dream about.”

The Nets fell behind by 18 points just before halftime, though they held the Raptors scoreless for nearly two minutes to start the third quarter while cutting the game quickly back to single digits. From there they bounced back and forth, with neither team pulling ahead by more than eight points the rest of the way. Yuta Watanabe hit a 3-pointer with just 15 seconds left for the Nets to put them up by two late, but Scottie Barnes drilled a pair of free throws after an Irving foul to tie it up once more — which set up Irving’s final shot to seal the deal.

Irving dropped a team-high 32 points in the win while shooting 3-of-9 from behind the arc. Kevin Durant added 28 points, and Nic Claxton finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

VanVleet led the Raptors with 39 points while shooting 14-of-24 from the field. Barnes dropped 26 points, and Pascal Siakam finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. The Raptors have now lost four straight and five of their last six.

The Nets will take on the Pistons next on Sunday in Detroit, which will wrap up a four-game road trip. They’ve won nine of their last 10 games, and are now 18-12 on the season.