First victory for the Big Three of the Brooklyn Nets! After two defeats in a row, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden prevailed 128: 124 against the Miami Heat. Once again the weak defense worries, which Bam Adebayo just can’t get a grip on – but in the end Kyrie takes over.
Brooklyn Nets (10-8) – Miami Heat (6-9) 128:124
The 28-year-old scored 18 of his 28 points in the final section when Miami started a comeback attempt, led by the towering Adebayo. In addition, Kyrie had 7 assists and 6 rebounds, but the best scorer of the Nets was Kevin Durant with 31 points (11/19 FG. 4/7 threesomes, plus 4 rebounds and 4 assists).
James Harden held back again and only contributed 12 points (2/8 FG, 0/5 threesome) to the home side’s point account. For this he distributed 11 templates (with 6 turnovers) and grabbed 7 rebounds. The Big Three got good support from Joe Harris, who set his three-way career record on the way to 23 points (7/12 3FG), or from Jeff Green from the bench (11 and 5 rebounds).
However, Brooklyn’s Defense found no remedy against Bam. The center of the Heat led the still weakened East Champion – both Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro were again not part of the game – with 41 points (14/20 FG, 12/14 FT) and thus a career high. In addition, Adebayo had 9 assists and 5 rebounds. Goran Dragic scored 19, Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn 18 points each.
The Nets got off to a much better start and quickly took the lead 11-2. They could not take the lead in the first half, in the second half the hosts even increased up to 18 points. Miami struggled back within striking distance, but KD continued to make matters clear with 13 points (5/5 FG) in the third section.
Kyrie Irving leads Brooklyn Nets to victory
The Nets lead in this quarter was again up to 16 points, but Miami was not put off by that. After a buzzer beater from Bam, the guests took the moment with them to the final section, which began with a 13-0 run for the Heat. It was Miami again, the gap was only one point.
Similar to the previous games, the defense of the Nets was the main concern. Miami hit 14 of their 20 field throw attempts (70 percent) in the final round, including 5 threes. However, the Nets’ offense is also elitist, as Irving in particular proved that evening.
In the last six minutes of the game, the point guard was responsible for 12 points, and Durant and Harden also broke the neck with important buckets in the final minute. “It was winning time,” said Kyrie, explaining his exploits in the fourth quarter that gave the Nets their first win since their comeback.
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