Thanks to a phenomenal Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-108. Steve Nash’s team is the seventh seed to make the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Brooklyn Nets (7) – Cleveland Cavaliers (8) 115:108 (BOXSCORE)
There, the Nets meet the Boston Celtics in the first round, who finished the regular season in second place in the east. The first game of this series takes place on Sunday. The Cavaliers get a second chance to qualify for the playoffs in Friday’s 8th-place playoff.
Irving sunk his first 12 shots from the field, which would set a new playoff record if the play-in counted. Only in the fourth quarter did the guard put his first throw onto the ring. Irving finished the game with 34 points and 12 assists in just 15 throws. Kevin Durant also held back a bit with 25 points at 9/16 FG when choosing shots, but prepared 11 hits directly and shone defensively with his length against the big Cavs lineup for 2 steals and 3 blocks.
Bruce Brown stayed true to his strong form with 18 points (8/19 FG), 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals, Andre Drummond (16) was particularly good in interaction with Irving. Among the Nets’ starters, only Seth Curry was hardly a factor with 0 points (0/4 FG) and 0 assists. Nix Claxton contributed 13 points (6/6 FG) coming off the bench, as well as 9 rebounds and 5 blocks.
On the other side, Darius Garland showed that the postseason stage isn’t too big for him. The first-time All-Star held back with 34 points at 13/24 FG and 5 assists, Evan Mobley hit 9/13 for 19 points. Kevin Love fitted in with 14 (3/4 threes) and 13 rebounds coming off the bench.
After a stellar first quarter from the Nets, the Cavs had their best shot at a comeback in the second period, but couldn’t really get their offense going. That didn’t fully change after the break, leaving Cleveland unable to keep up with the Nets Superstars’ shotmaking.
Play-In: Cavs can’t stop Kyrie Irving
Irving started well, scoring the Nets’ first points himself and setting up the next two goals. The first exclamation mark of the game came after just under five minutes when Durant first one Lauri Markkanen nailed a layup attempt, regained the ball on the fast break and grounded to a free Drummond under the basket for a smashing dunk plus foul. The Nets turned up the heat again late in the quarter and scored the last ten points, completed with a long two from Nic Claxton on the fast break just before the buzzer, who made it 40-20.
After the Nets’ offensive fireworks, it was a different game in the second quarter, Brooklyn adding just four points in the first seven minutes. However, Cleveland continued to have little success offensively and only slightly reduced the gap. Irving then punished that personally: In the last 46 seconds before the break, he hit the Cavs with three jumpshots, the third one Buzzerbeater in a high arc over the defender’s outstretched arms, which made the home fans go wild. After only 17 points in the second quarter, Brooklyn still led clearly with 57:43.
After the break, Kyrie shone as a preparer with assists to the first three Nets goals before continuing from downtown himself. On the other side, every point seemed much more difficult, Cleveland had to work hard for everything. After substituting Irving two minutes from the end of the third quarter, the Cavs went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to -12 going into the final period.
There, Cleveland shortened further to -7 with a quick 7-0 run, but did not come within direct batting range. The coup de grace seemed to come with just under three and a half minutes to go when Durant welded in two jumpers in a row to put the lead back into double digits. The Nets confidently stayed off the free-throw line in the closing stages to seal the win.
