The Brooklyn Nets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 108-102, in the NBA.
Sharjah 24 – Asaad Khalil:
Veteran Kevin Durant led his Brooklyn Nets to a 102-108 host to the New Orleans Pelicans, in the NBA.
The Nets, whose series stopped at 12 victories on Wednesday, lost at home to the Chicago Bulls, trailed 53-64 at halftime, but seized control of the match in the third quarter.
Durant also picked up 10 rebounds, marking the 111th time he had collected 30 points or more with 10 rebounds.
On the other hand, the Pelicans missed its stars Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram due to injury, but it gave a stubborn performance in front of its guest.
New Orleans made a strong start, with a 10-point lead in the first quarter, after a beautiful hat-trick from Nagy Marshall.
But the Nets entered the atmosphere of the match and made a big lead in the third quarter, by 35-21.
And to Durant, the other star, Kyrie Irving, emerged with “19 points” at the decisive time, scoring a long-time hat-trick 43 seconds before the end of time and putting his team ahead 106-100, before planting two free throws that secured the victory.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Durant, 34, said. “Even if we weren’t able to respond early in the game, we kept pressing and got a solid win.”
Brooklyn raised its tally to 26 wins against 13 losses, placing second in the Eastern Province behind leaders Boston Celtics 27-12.
As for New Orleans, who lost for the fifth time at home this season, its score became 24-15 in third place in the Western Region, behind the Denver Nuggets 26-13 and the Memphis Grizzlies 25-13.