Kevin Durant # 7 of the Brooklyn Nets responded to the Detroit Pistons at the Barclays Center on March 29, 2022 in New York City. Mike Stobe / Getty Images / AFP
Kevin Durant collected 41 points and 11 rebounds as the Brooklyn Nets rallied in the second half and recorded a 130-123 win over the Detroit Pistons in New York on Tuesday night.
The Nets (40-36) won for the eighth time in 11 games after trailing by 12 points in the first half. The game is one game ahead of ninth-ranked Charlotte Hornett in the play-in berth race at the Brooklyn Eastern Conference.
Durant scored 16 points in the third quarter and hit a tiebreaking 11-footer that gave the net a 110-108 lead with 4:54 remaining and helped Brooklyn finish the game by outscoring Detroit 22-15.
Durant made 14 of 23 shots as the Nets shot 55.3 percent and hit 15 3-pointers in 28 attempts.
Kiri Irving added 24 to his second home game of the season after relieving an unwanted guard from a New York City personal employer order last week. He made 7 of 18 shots, including a 19-footer that gave Brooklyn a 126-118 lead with 90 seconds left.
KD goes for 41 Brooklynnets Win! #Networld pic.twitter.com/oIuVaAGdFN
– NBA (BANBA) March 30, 2022
Bruce Brown contributed 15 points and Andre Drummond a total of 14 points and 13 board nets. Seth Curry and Nick Claxton added 11 for the net.
Rookie Ked Cunningham has a career-high 34 points as the Pistons (20-56) have lost for the ninth time in 11 games. Detroit added 48 per cent shots and 16 3-pointers while Sadiq Bay and Isaiah Stuart added 15 points each while taking the eighth loss by a single number in his skid.
The Pistons held a 35-33 lead in the opening quarter, despite allowing the Nets to shoot 59.1 percent. The Pistons started to open the 53-41 lead with 14-4 runs when Killian Hayes hit a 3-pointer at 7:58 left and held a 64-58 lead at halftime.
Brown’s 3-pointer made it 69-67 with 9:56 in the third, holding an eight-point lead in the middle of the quarter and a 96-94 lead in the fourth.
The Pistons took a 101-99 lead in Frank Jackson’s lay-up with 10:01 left, Irving hit a solid 3 from the left for a 104-101 lead in the 9:08 left but Cunningham’s opposite layup forged a 108-all tie with 5. Before closing the net: 09 left.
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