Who Dekes The Defender Better: Tyreke Evans Or Kyrie Irving?

Last night saw a lot of exciting action. The Bulls handed the Pacers their first defeat of the year and Ryan Anderson scored 26 in his return for New Orleans. But two players made defenders look embarrassing on drives that still have us shaking our heads. The question is whether Tyreke Evans or Kyrie Irving had a better play?

Pelicans $44 million third guard Tyreke Evans has been coming off the bench for a Pelicans team with Eric Gordon and Jrue Holiday as the starting backcourt. Last night, ‘Reke had a couple amazing drives to the bucket that resembled the acrobatic layups we all remember from his 2010 ROY campaign.

Kyrie Irving single-handedly got the Cavs a win over the Wizards with 41 points on 14-of-28 shooting from field. Irving also held John Wall to just 9 points on 2-for-13 shooting (though Wall did have 12 dimes). But Kyrie also had one of those plays where the ball looks like it’s on a string and the defenders are moving around like Kyrie was in a Benny Hill chase scene.

First, we’ll start with Irving.

As you can see, rookie Glenn Rice Jr. gets all twisted around as Irving keeps going behind-his-back before finally switching back over to his left-hand a final time to slip by. Irving then immediately crosses up a helping Jan Vesely on his way to a right-handed floater. Kyrie Irving is a warlock on the court sometimes.

Check out Reke’s amazing spin-move and crossover and-1 finish…

Tyreke has gotten a lot of grief for his shooting, his losing in Sacramento and what many consider disappointing play since that magical 2009-10 Rookie of the Year opening to his career. After signing a 4-year, $44 million contract with the Pelicans this offseason, he’s been coming off the bench for the already stacked Pellie backcourt.

Regardless, he hasn’t lost his handle and his burly 6-6 frame belies a quick first step that makes it seem like he can get to the rim at will.

He starts things off with a quick crossover in traffic where he freezes the defender before finishing with his left-hand, plus the foul.

Then there’s Reke’s interpretation of the tornado that is the cartoon Tasmanian Devil. He goes behind-his-back to slide by an off-balance Evan Turner and immediately spins past Thaddeus Young to get to the other side of the hoop for the righty finish. It’s so nice, we had to show you twice.

Both Reke’s Pelicans and Irving’s Cavaliers got a win on Saturday night, and while Kyrie had a better game and was a more integral part of Cleveland’s victory, we think Tyreke’s second move is better than even Irving’s yo-yo handle.

Who was better: Reke or Kyrie?

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