OHIO – Brooklyn Nets continued its hot streak in the 2022-2023 NBA Season after recording its ninth straight win by beating Cleveland Cavaliers, 125-117, on Monday night (Tuesday in the Philippines) at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
Kevin Durant spearheaded the Nets with 32 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Kyrie Irving drilled seven three-pointers to end up with 32 markers as well.
TJ Warren contributed season-high 23 points to go with eight rebounds, while Royce O’Neale, Nicholas Claxton and Yuta Watanabe had 10 markers apiece for the Nets.
It was the ninth straight victory of the Nets as they moved up to no. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference standings with 22-12 record. It was also the team’s 12th victory in their last 13 matches.
The victory, however, was not easy as the Nets saw their lead as high as 20 points trimmed to 109-116 by consecutive outside conversions from Cavaliers guard Darius Garland.
Irving, however, restored order for the Nets with a two-pointer followed by his free throw conversions and charity connections from Warren for an eight point edge with under a minute left.
Garland ended the match with 46 points, including five outside conversions, Donovan Mitchell added 15 markers, while Evan Mobley and Cedi Osman had 12 and 11 as the Cavaliers dropped to 22-13.
Meanwhile, Houston Rockets (10-23) leaned on a massive 17-1 scoring blast in the third quarter to take down Chicago Bulls (14-19), 133-118, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Kevin Porter Jr. led the Rockets with season-high 36 points, Alperen Sengun chipped in 25 markers, while Filipino-American guard Jalen Green contributed 24 points in the win.
Miami Heat (17-17) pulled off a 113-110 escape over Minnesota Timberwolves (16-18) despite missing some key players. Max Strus top-scored with 19 markers for the shorthanded Heat.
BOX SCORE:
BROOKLYN 125 — Durant 32, Irving 32, Warren 23, O’Neale 10, Claxton 10, Watanabe 10, Simmons 4, Sumner 4, Mills 0.
CLEVELAND 117 — Garland 46, Mitchell 15, Mobley 12, Osman 11, Allen 10, LeVert 8, Love 7, Stevens 6, Okoro 2.
Quarterscores: 34-22, 65-49, 91-79, 125-117./PN
