This model of the Brooklyn Nets goes as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving go, and perahaps no recreation this season has encapsulated that fact in addition to their 124-121 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night, which prolonged their season-long profitable streak to 6 video games.
Neither was all that nice within the first half; they every had 13 factors, however Durant had practically as many turnovers (4) as made area objectives (5), whereas Irving was restricted to 14 minutes of motion as a consequence of foul hassle. That, mixed with the Pistons’ success within the paint within the mid-range, noticed the house workforce’s lead balloon to as a lot as 19 simply earlier than halftime.
After the break, it was a totally totally different story. Durant and Irving had been at their finest as they led a livid comeback that erased your complete deficit within the third quarter alone. Come the fourth, it was the Pistons who all of the sudden needed to struggle their manner again into the sport, however they in the end got here up brief as a result of they don’t have a Durant nor an Irving.
The All-Star duo outscored the Pistons’ total workforce within the second half, 55-50, and completed with a mixed 81 factors, 12 rebounds and 5 assists on 27-of-45 from the sector. Nobody else on the Nets took greater than six pictures, and Royce O’Neale (11 factors) was the one different double-digit scorer.
Here is a fast rundown of among the notable stats from their outing:
- Most factors by a duo this season
- Second-most factors Durant and Irving have scored in the identical recreation with the Nets, behind solely their 86 mixed factors towards the Atlanta Hawks on Apr. 2, 2022
- Fourth time they’ve every scored 30-plus factors in the identical recreation this season, matching Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for probably the most 30-point performances by a pair of teammates
- Third time they’ve every scored 35-plus factors in the identical recreation this season, making them simply the third pair of teammates to try this within the final 30 years. The others had been Durant and Russell Westbrook in 2011-12 and Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway in 1994-95
- Durant’s 26 factors within the third quarter had been probably the most he is ever scored in a single quarter in his profession
Over the ultimate three minutes and 18 seconds of the third quarter, Durant turned the sport into his personal private showcase. He poured in 20 factors in fast succession, capping off the run and the body with a 3-pointer on the buzzer to offer the Nets the lead.
“I really feel like I am all the time locked in to play and at any time when my identify is known as, I gotta go on the market and make pictures and shoot good pictures,” Durant mentioned. “That is what occurred ultimately of the third. I had some nice seems and I used to be capable of end them.
“Yeah, I felt like I might be extra aggressive round that point. [Irving] got here out the sport, so I knew there can be loads of consideration on me to attain. So I stored that in thoughts as effectively, however I really feel like I acquired some good one-on-one alternatives with late assist that I used to be capable of shoot over, after which the three 3s.”
With 10 wins of their final 11 video games, the Nets have fully turned their season round. Not solely are they not the laughingstock of the league, they’re inside putting distance of the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks for the highest spot within the Jap Convention. With these two groups struggling as of late, the Nets are simply three video games again at 19-12.
