Kevin Durant sweeps Nets into NBA playoffs
Kevin Durant scored seven of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and Jeff Green had 22 points when the Brooklyn Nets secured a playoff spot by beating the Toronto Raptors 116-103 too late.
Brooklyn trailed 90-84 early in the fourth period and used a groundbreaking 16-2 run to take control. Durant later hit a 3-pointer with 1:47 remaining and stared at the Toronto bench after pitching his team 111-101.
Durant, who played his second game after returning from a hamstring injury, added 10 rebounds in 33 minutes for his eighth double-double.
“Just for all the adversity we went through this year with injuries, logs, trading situations and guys in and out of the lineup, I’m very proud of everyone in the organization from top to bottom,” said Durant.
Kyrie Irving finished the race with nine points, six rebounds and four assists. Seven other nets scored double digits on the night Brooklyn became the first Eastern Conference team to occupy a playoff spot.
The Nets won for the third straight and fourth time in five games to keep Toronto from finishing the season run.
Luka Doncic surpassed Stephen Curry for the first time in five direct duels of his career and Dallas scored 28 consecutive points bridging the first and second quarters as the Mavericks beat the Golden State Warriors 133-103.
Doncic had a game high of 39 points on the second night of a clash, helping the Mavericks (34-27) win the season streak 2-1 against the Warriors (31-31) and winning 3-1 / 2 games in the duel the playoff position in the Western Conference.
The blowout was Dallas’ third in a row in the two-year history of the San Francisco Chase Center.
The Mavericks, who have never lost in the building, flashed the Warriors by 20 and 27 points last season.
Anfernee Simons’ 27 points 9 out of 10 from 3 point distance led a dominant performance by the Portland Trail Blazers during a 133-112 win over the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.
The Oklahoma City Thunder prevented a franchise record of 15 games with a 119-115 win over the Boston Celtics, while the Milwaukee Bucks fought off the Charlotte Hornets 114-104 to avoid a rash in the team’s regular season series
The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Houston Rockets 114-107 for their third straight win.
