An ultra-efficient 34 points courtesy of Kyrie Irving has proven enough as the Brooklyn Nets managed to survive a gritty Cleveland Cavaliers squad 115-108 to set up a first-round series against the second-seeded Boston Celtics.
Irving had 34 points on 12-of-15 from the field to go along with 12 assists, whilst Kevin Durant added 25 points, 11 assists, and 3 blocks en route to Brooklyn’s seven-point victory. The All-Star duo, along with Bruce Brown, played over 40 minutes as head coach Steve Nash ran with a nine-man rotation. Brown had 18 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals, all whilst leading the Nets in plus-minus. Big man duo Andre Drummond and Nic Claxton combined for 29 points and 17 rebounds, whilst Claxton had a game-high 5 blocks. Seth Curry had a quiet 33 minutes, failing to score a point or record an assist, whilst Patty Mills hit a pair of threes off the bench and pulled down 5 rebounds in 17 minutes.
Cleveland, meanwhile, were led by Darius Garland’s 34 points and 5 assists to go along with Evan Mobley’s 19 points and 7 rebounds. Kevin Love added 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 threes off the bench, whilst Rajon Rondo added 7 points and 9 assists in his 27 minutes. Cleveland’s starters outside of Garland and Mobley struggled for much of the night; Caris LeVert, Lauri Markkanen, and Isaac Okoro shot a combined 9-of-29 from the field, including 2-of-9 from three.
Brooklyn will now face Boston in the first-round, who won 26 of their final 32 games of the season and finished the season with the league’s best defence under first-year head coach Ime Udoka. They will, however, be without starting centre and All-Defensive hopeful Robert Williams III who is recovering from knee surgery. Boston swept the season series against Brooklyn 3-0, however, Durant and Irving only appeared in one of the outings. Ben Simmons is yet to make his Brooklyn debut and has no set timetable for his return, making the odds of him appearing in the series slim. Strangely enough, Brooklyn will open the series as favourites, despite winning seven less games than Boston this season.
Cleveland will face the winner of tomorrow’s nine-versus-ten match-up between Charlotte and Atlanta for a shot at the final Eastern Conference playoff spot and an opportunity to face Miami in the first-round. All-Star centre Jarrett Allen is a chance to return from over a month-long layoff due to a broken finger, potentially adding a much-needed defensive presence and low-post threat. Should they win, a date with the first-seeded Heat would await. Under the tutelage of former title-winning coach Erik Spoelstra, the Heat navigated long-term absences of their three best players – Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Kyle Lowry – to finish as one of the league’s best defensive teams and would present a formidable match-up.
