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Kyrie Irving Channels Inner Magic Johnson With Baby Sky Hook For The Win

Kyrie Irving's winning basket Sunday resembled Magic Johnson's in Game 4 of the 1987 NBA Finals

Shandel Richardson

Kyrie Irving Channels Inner Magic Johnson With Baby Sky Hook For The Win
Kyrie Irving Channels Inner Magic Johnson With Baby Sky Hook For The Win /
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The circumstances were completely different. 

But you can't help but think back to Magic Johnson after watching Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving defeat the Denver Nuggets with a last-second sweeping baby hook shot in the lane. 

"Hell of a shot by Kyrie," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "Give him all the credit."

It was a similar play to when Johnson broke the backs of the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the 1987 NBA Finals. He hit a running hook near the free throw line that gave the Lakers a 107-106 victory and a 3-1 lead in the series. 

“He’s the MVP of the league and made some awfully big plays out there,” Celtics All-Star Larry Bird said of Johnson after the game. “He made everything happen out there and made that one hook shot in the middle. You’re probably going to get beat on a skyhook, but you don’t expect it to be from Magic.”

The significance of the play is huge in the Bird-Magic rivalry. The Lakers went on to win that series. If it were tied at 2, things may have been different. Instead, Johnson holds a 5-3 advantage in titles won. 

Can you imagine the debate if they were tied at 4? The baby hook is perhaps the only reason Johnson receives more love in the G.O.A.T debate. At least Irving took us back to the `80s to relive that magical night in Garden. 

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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day NBA. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com 

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com

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