The Lakers took the next smack. LeBron James and Co. have no chance at West-Primus Phoenix – despite another milestone for the Lakers star. Kevin Durant slays the Knicks with 53 points and a franchise record as the Sixers struggle to an overtime win in Orlando.
Brooklyn Nets (35-33) – New York Knicks (28-40) 110:107 (BOXSCORE)
- For the first time this season, Kyrie Irving was also present at a Nets home game. Due to the local Corona regulation, he is now allowed to watch courtside – but is still not allowed to play himself. After all, the trip to the Barclays Center was worth it for Kyrie: he got a spectacular show from Kevin Durant, who broke the Knicks with 53 points (season high) and thus scored the most points since his career high in 2014 (54).
- KD was in a really good offensive mood, impressed with outstanding shotmaking and with trash talk against Evan Fournier, who in his opinion just too small for the defense against the Nets star. Durant sunk 19/37 from the field (4/13 threes and 11/12 ft), gave out 9 additional assists on 5 turnovers, and grabbed 6 rebounds. Never has a Nets player scored more points in a game against the Knicks than Durant, who has 53 points. “He’s the best player in the world,” marveled team-mate Andre Drummond afterwards.
- However, the home side also needed every single one of Durant’s points against city rivals. The 33-year-old gave Brooklyn a small lead for the first time in the third quarter, but as New York continued to double him in the latter part, the Nets offense struggled enormously. With a 9-0 run, the Knicks took the lead again a few minutes before the end.
- But a minute before the final buzzer, Durant had a millisecond of free space to weld a threesome to the Nets lead through the trap. Shortly thereafter, Bruce Brown (15, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals) got his fingers in the Knicks’ pass lane and forced a turnover. Then Durant brought home the third win in a row with several free throws.
- Aside from KD and Brown, Drummond also performed well with a double-double (18 and 10 rebounds, 8/8 FG). On the other side, the trio of Julius Randle (26), Fournier (25) and RJ Barrett (24) defended themselves against the threat of bankruptcy. But in the end, Durant was just too much.
Detroit Pistons (18-50) – L.A. Clippers (36-34) 102:106 (BOXSCORE)
- The Clippers can make comebacks! The guests from the City of Angels got off to a terrible start in Detroit, falling by as much as 18 points before Marcus Morris ran hot and LA turned the game around. The forward scored 31 points (10/19 FG and 3/5 three) to become the top scorer of the game.
- Apparently, an hour less sleep due to the switch to US daylight saving time didn’t do the Clippers much good, especially not at the early tip-off time in the Motor City. LA all missed the first 11 three-point attempts, the catastrophic shooting rate of 32 percent at half-time resulted in the mentioned 18-point deficit.
- After the change of sides, however, the throwing luck turned almost 180 degrees. In the final section, Luke Kennard caught fire alongside Morris. The former Pistons guard scored 11 of his 16 points (4/7 trebles) in the fourth quarter, with multiple trebles putting the Clippers back in front for the first time since the early days before extending the lead to +5. Morris and Reggie Jackson made sure that the guests did not give up this lead.
- Jackson, another ex-Pistons player, sniffed the triple-double (15, 9 assists and 8 rebounds), Ivica Zubac grabbed 14 points and 15 boards. Isaiah Hartenstein also made a strong game coming from the bench (12 and 4, 5/7 FG), 8 points came in the fourth quarter, including some alley oops. On the other side, the strong Cade Cunningham scratched a triple-double (23, 10 assists and 9 rebounds), Jerami Grant had 21 and Marvin Bagley had 15 points. The second half still went to the Clippers with 67:49.
Boston Celtics (41-28) – Dallas Mavericks (42-26) 92:95 (SPIELBERICHT)
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