The Brooklyn Nets have downed Cleveland on the road 125-117 on Tuesday (all times AEDT) to extend their NBA-best winning streak to nine and take the Cavs’ spot in the East’s third seed.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving combined for 64 points, TJ Warren added a season-high 23 off the bench and Ben Simmons racked up four points, nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals as the Nets continued their dominant run.
Despite the loss, Darius Garland exploded for 46 points for Cleveland with eight assists, however Donovan Mitchell was held to just 15 points.
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Brooklyn looked on from the opening tip, piling 34 points on the board in the first quarter to lead by 12 and take control of the match.
The Cavaliers then worked their way back into the contest in the second term and got within four with 2:43 left in the period, but Jacque Vaughn’s team ended the first half in scintillating fashion to open up a 15-point advantage.
The Nets never looked like losing from that point including Durant brutally signalling for a Cavs timeout in the fourth after a Irving three put the visitors up 19.
Durant’s 32 points moved him past Tim Duncan into 15th place in the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
ELSEWHERE …
Paul George scored seven of the Clippers’ 14 points and dished out two assists in overtime to lead his side to a big 142-121 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Playing without Kawhi Leonard (rest), the Clippers needed every bit of George’s dominance – recording 32 points, 11 assists three steals and a block as LA improved to 20-15 and climbed into the West’s fourth seed.
It comes despite Leonard playing just 13 games this season in an ominous sign for the rest of the NBA.
Bojan Bogdanovic’s 23 points led eight Pistons in double figures including all five starters, but Detroit’s NBA-worst record fell to 8-28.
In Miami, the Heat took down the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-110 behind 19 points from Max Strus and Kyle Lowry’s 18 points and nine assists.
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It saw Erik Epoelstra’s side get back to .500 at 17-17, while the Wolves fell to 16-18 despite 29 points from Anthony Edwards.
Elsewhere, the Chicago Bulls came crashing back down to earth in a 133-118 loss to the Houston Rockets.
The Bulls, who’d won three in a row to get their season back on track, had no answers for Alperen Sengun (24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists), Kevin Porter Jr. (26 points, seven rebounds, nine assists) and Jalen Green (24 points, six rebounds) on the defensive end.
DeMar DeRozan paced Chicago with 31 points and nine assists and Zach LaVine added 22 points.
ALL RESULTS
NETS 125 CAVALIERS 117
CLIPPERS 142 PISTONS 131
TIMBERWOLVES 110 HEAT 113
ROCKETS 133 BULLS 118
JAZZ 122 SPURS 126
HORNETS – TRAIL BLAZERS
