Irving heats up in 4th, Brooklyn escapes Miami
Kyrie Irving heated up in the fourth quarter as Brooklyn Nets pulled off a 128-124 escape over Miami Heat in the 20202021 NBA Season on Saturday night (Sunday in the Philippines) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
After seeing its once 18-point advantage trimmed to 112-113 by a furious Heat run, Irving drained a triple for a 116-112 Nets’ edge. Consecutive layups by Kevin Durant, Irving and James Harden increased Brooklyn’s advantage to 122-114.
A three-point play by Goran Dragic and three-pointer by Duncan Robinson pulled the Heat to within 120-123. Two free throws by Irving increased the Nets’ lead back to 125-120 but Robinson got three free throws to come to within 125-123.
Miami even had a chance after Irving split on his free throws for a 126-123 Nets score but Bam Adebayo just drained one of his free throws for the Heat. Harden then iced the win for Brooklyn with two free throws.
Durant finished the match with 31 points, including four triples, while Irving added 28 markers, with 18 coming in the fourth quarter, as the Nets halted its twogame slide to improve to 10-8 slate.
Joe Harris had a strong first half, including seven triples, as he finished with 23 points, while Harden struggled on offense with 12 points to go along with 11 assists and seven rebounds, while Jeff Green contributed 11 for the Nets.
Adebayo ended up with career-high 41 points to go along with nine assists and five rebounds, Dragic added 19 markers, while Robinson and Kendrick Nunn each had 18 as the Heat dropped to 6-9.
Meanwhile, Eastern Conference top team Philadelphia 76ers (12-5) also escaped a late rally by the cellar-dwelling Detroit Pistons (3-13) for a 114110 victory at the Little Ceasars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
Joel Embiid tallied double-double 33 points and 14 rebounds, Ben Simmons added 20 markers, nine rebounds and seven assists, while Tobias Harris and Seth Curry had 18 and 14 for the 76ers.
Minnesota Timberwolves (4-11), on the other hand, broke its losing skid with a 120110 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans (5-10). Naz Reid top-scored with 20 markers for the Twolves.
BOX SCORE:
BROOKLYN 128 – Durant 31, Irving 28, Harris 23, Harden 12, Green 11, Jordan 8, Brown 8, Perry 4, LuwawuCabarrot 3.
MIAMI 124 – Adebayo 41, Dragic 19, Robinson 18, Nunn 18, Achiuwa 7, Harkless 6, Iguodala 5, Olynyk 5, Okpala 3, Vincent 2.
Quarterscores: 36-25, 66-56, 96-82, 128-124./