KYRIE IRVING AND Kevin Durant combined for 55 points as the Brooklyn Nets held off a rally from the Indiana Pacers on Sunday to seal seventh place in the Eastern Conference and clinch home advantage for next week’s play-in.
The Nets’ final regular season game looked set to be a blowout for long periods as Brooklyn jumped out to an 18-point lead in the first half.
But a dogged Pacers unit drew level at 89-89 with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter before Brooklyn regrouped to pull clear and run out 134-126 winners.
The win means Brooklyn will face a home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday where a victory will see them enter directly into the playoffs as seventh seeds.
The Nets will head into that showdown buoyed by the recent form of Irving and Durant.
Irving finished with 35 points, seven rebounds and five assists on Sunday, going 15-of-20 from the field.
Durant, meanwhile, completed a triple double of 20 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 16 assists while Brooklyn had six players finish in double figures.
“It’s been an up and down last few weeks for us – winning some games, losing some games,” Durant said afterwards.
“I think we’re finding out who we are as a group and that’s always a good thing.”
Durant is now looking forward eagerly to the business end of the season, starting with Tuesday’s assignment against Cleveland.
“It’s been a long year and this is the perfect time of the year to play our best basketball,” Durant said.
A Brooklyn victory over Cleveland on Tuesday would see the Nets face the second-seeded Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
That crunch showdown – which would pit Irving against his former club – was made possible after the Celtics vaulted over the Milwaukee Bucks into second place in the standings.
The Celtics clinched the second seed after a 139-110 blowout of the Memphis Grizzlies in their final game on Sunday.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum led the rout with 31 points — making 11-of-14 from the field — in just 26 minutes on court. Jaylen Brown added 18 points with Al Al Horford scoring 13.
The Grizzlies, who had already clinched second place in the Western Conference, rested several of their first choice starting line-up.
The Celtics rise to the second seeding is all the more remarkable given their indifferent early season form.
As recently as February, Boston were languishing in ninth place in the East, well outside the automatic playoff places.
“It was a tough one, I’m proud of my group and proud of how we responded throughout the season,” Tatum said afterwards.
“It didn’t start off well but we managed to figure it out and we’ve been on a roll and hopefully we’ll keep it going through the playoffs.”
Milwaukee meanwhile dropped to third in the Eastern Conference standings after their under-strength lineup was thumped 133-115 by the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Sunday.
The Bucks were without key players Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis for the game which was notable for a bizarre fleeting cameo by another mainstay Jrue Holiday.
Holiday came onto the court for the tipoff and promptly committed a foul after eight seconds before leaving the court without returning.
Reports said the brief appearance allowed him to collect a $255,000 bonus included in his contract for featuring in 67 games this season.
I wonder how it’ll go down when he’s celebrating with his Tricolour when they win Division 2, no doubt it’ll be accompanied by a rendition of the Famine Song
It’s fairly simple lads! As a southern Irish catholic u will be HATED by rangers! There is a savage hatred there! I would play for 3,000 easily somewhere else
I know, I support Celtic
How the hell could you play for them
It’s a job and he is out of contract.
If u were a true Irishman u wouldn’t go near them
Macca, you saying you have never worked for a British company? or bought British products which fund the British economy??? Drop that sh*te about being a “true Irishman” its a job and hes getting to do what he loves most! Fairly sure you would change your attitude if it was you being offered upwards of 30,000 per week to play!
I wouldn’t play for rangers in a fit! That’s what this is about!
I wouldn’t play for rangers in a fit! That’s what this is about
It’s alright, Macca. Somehow I don’t think they’re looking to sign you.
And I bet if asked neither would any “real” Irish player on the Republic of Ireland team
True Irish man would go f*ck off with that. How about being a true Irish man when you have a mortgage to pay and no income coming in. Would you go on the dole or get a decent paying job playing soccer? Grow up.
And ur gonna try tell me this lads only option was rangers? Lmao! u go around and ask most southern Irish people would they play for rangers if they were professional footballs and I know the answer ul get
Are you gonna try tell me otherwise? Do you know him, his situation and his offers? No. 2 offers on the table so lets say one is 7 grand a week at rangers and the other is 3 grand at another place. So you’re saying you would still not go for the sake of 1/3 of a million more? If the money was on the table in front of you?
Only option? Maybe not, best option? Probably.
Not everyone is as backwards in their thinking as you are.
Celtic are a British club..
It’s a job!!! My dads from Glasgow and even there in the epicentre of it all, you get offered a chance to play professional football, you take it. Now if both are in for you that’s a different matter…
Who cares!!! The Celtic v Rangers crap is the reason most people can’t stand the old firm derby!! People give others abuse for following Man Utd, Liverpool etc because they have no connection with them. The same argument should hold for these historically bigoted sides!
Celtic fans are possibly the worst soccer fans in the world. I once was told, while wearing an AC Milan shirt, (they were playing Celtic) I should support Celtic because they’re catholic… I had fun pointing out that Italy is the home of Catholicism, which I did in no uncertain terms!
P.s I have no love for AC Milan, just an old jersey I stole off the lads!
Are you for real, the abuse fans from English clubs give each other is unreal and as you say for no reason at all.
At least Celtic and rangers fans have history and with that some sense of ( misguided as it is ) justification about not liking the other.
As for rangers and Irish players well its Like Michael Jordan playing for the KKK’s basketball team, the club hate who you are, the fans hate who you are and if you want to play for them go ahead there’s nothing stoping you but don’t expect to be invited to too many supporter club functions. ( unless its a 12 of July one then I’d Make an excuse and stay at home or wear something flameproof)
Your uneducated-you have 1 conversation with an idiot and you brand the clubs fans as the worlds worst???Celtic and their fans came across as fantastic over the their recent European nights-You don’t have 1 notion as to what your talking about
I’m uneducated?! I disliked Celtic before this, the vast majority of Celtic fans have never been in Scotland, let alone Celtic park. Plastic IRA wannabes
You are wrong but with you being so small minded and a brain of so little magnitude I am not going to waste my evening in reading your rants, And yes, you come across very uneducated
Whatever helps you sleep at night sweetheart. Anyone who who supports a team defined by religion has no right to call anyone else small minded.
I never mentioned anything about being a supporter-Sweet Dreams
Then why attack me on my opinions?
A lot of people are misunderstood here and think his detractors are complaining about him playing for a club with strong British vibes. It’s more extreme than that; Rangers are not just a British club, but a strongly anti-Irish club, who sing songs about being “up to our knees in Fenian blood.” For those who think its silly in this day and age to dislike Rangers for what they stand for, then try and spend half an hour unharmed in a Rangers pub on matchday. Your Irish accent won’t help you one bit!
Completely agree, it’s not about playing for a pro-British club it’s playing for an anti-Irish club
See how long he lasts with them dirtbird fans
Am I the only one that finds people’s following of the Old Firm in this country absolutely bizzarre. They play football in a different country, but the way some people go on about it you’d think it was two sides from Dublin. Sure, there’s a catholic/protestant rivalry there, which most consider stupid these days anyway, but that in no way makes it an Ireland vs the brits game. If people are so wound up about British people that they consider an Irish man playing for Rangers a national disgrace, they can go live in the Gaeltacht, speak nothing but Irish, buy no British products at all and see where it gets them. People bearing grudges for things that happened before many of their births is ridiculius
And wearing Celtic Jersey’s to an Irish game. I follow hibs, and despite their Irish links I wouldn’t dream of wearing the Jersey of a Scottish side to an Irish international game. For all their Irish connotations, they are and remain a Scottish club from Glasgow, and it’s laughable that many try to pass them off as our major national side.
100%agree with you
Cork goalkeeper Alan Smith made his Rangers debut last month… So he’ll be the 2nd Irish player in 80 years!
He can play for whoever he likes. Let’s just hope he doesn’t join in with the fans when they start belting out “The Billy Boys”.
Well done to him for ignoring the biggoted rubbish that spews from the underclass up there.