MY ACCOUNT
Kevin Durant was satisfied with his night’s work after recording 41 points as the Brooklyn Nets eventually overcame a spirited Detroit Pistons on Tuesday at Barclays Center.
The Nets moved to 40-36 following the win, and sit in eight place in the Eastern Conference, while the Pistons have the joint-worst record in the east (20-56, along with the Orlando Magic).
Kyrie Irving added 24 in only his second home appearance of the season following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions on unvaccinated athletes in New York.
Durant was the star of the show, though, also managing 11 rebounds and five assists, while sinking four of six attempts from beyond the arc.
“I want to get better shots sometimes, but like a couple of them are like, ‘I’m hot, let me risk it,'” Durant said after the win.
“I was just trying to get the best shots that I can. Sometimes it might be over a guy in the lane, but I feel like that’s open and I have to keep knocking them down.”
In the NBA tonight:
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 40 pts, 14 reb, 6 ast, 66.7 FG%
Kevin Durant: 41 pts, 11 reb, 5 ast, 60.9 FG%
This is the first time two NBA players had 40/10/5 on 60.0% shooting on the same day since Michael Jordan and Karl Malone did it on November 3, 1989.
The Nets had been 12 points behind at one point, but were able to turn things around to eventually secure victory, and Durant was quick to praise Detroit despite their undesirable record.
“I know their record isn’t good, but they still have pros over there,” he added. “They still made shots early and gained confidence as a team. This was a good test for us.”
Andre Drummond put up 14 points and 13 rebounds, and expressed his belief that Brooklyn will need to be better against stronger opponents, with the playoffs not far away and the Nets hoping to sneak in.
“We can’t hang our hat on the second half, we have to play a complete game,” Drummond said.
“It’s never going to be easy to make that turn against great teams. Not that the Pistons aren’t a great team. They played a great game, but we just turned it up in the second half.”
