Kevin Durant collected 41 points and 11 rebounds as the Brooklyn Nets rallied in the second half and recorded a 130-123 victory over the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night in New York.
The Nets (40-36) won for the eighth time in 11 games after trailing by 12 in the first half. Brooklyn moved one game ahead of the ninth-place Charlotte Hornets in the race for a play-in berth in the Eastern Conference.
Durant scored 16 points in the third quarter and hit the tiebreaking 11-footer that gave the Nets a 110-108 lead with 4:54 remaining and helped Brooklyn outscore Detroit 22-15 to finish the game.
Durant made 14 of 23 shots as the Nets shot 55.3 percent and hit 15 3-pointers in 28 attempts.
Kyrie Irving added 24 in his second home game of the season after the unvaccinated guard was granted an exemption from New York City's private employer mandate last week. He made 7 of 18 shots, including a 19-footer that put Brooklyn up 126-118 with 90 seconds left.
Bruce Brown contributed 15 points and Andre Drummond totaled 14 points and 13 boards for the Nets. Seth Curry and Nic Claxton added 11 apiece for the Nets.
Rookie Cade Cunningham matched his career high with 34 points as the Pistons (20-56) lost for the ninth time in 11 games. Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart added 15 apiece as Detroit shot 48 percent and hit 16 3-pointers while taking its eighth loss by single digits in its skid.
Despite allowing the Nets to shoot 59.1 percent, the Pistons held a 35-33 lead through the opening quarter. The Pistons ripped off a 14-4 run to open a 53-41 lead when Killian Hayes hit a 3-pointer with 7:58 left and held a 64-58 lead at halftime.
The Nets regained the lead when Brown's 3-pointer made it 69-67 with 9:56 left in the third, held an eight-point lead midway through the quarter and took a 96-94 lead into the fourth.
The Pistons took a 101-99 lead on Frank Jackson's layup with 10:01 remaining, Irving hit a tough 3 from the left side for a 104-101 lead with 9:08 left but Cunningham's reverse layup forged a 108-all tie with 5:09 left before the Nets closed it out.
-reuters-
