Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell put on a show in Brooklyn today. Both superstars put up 30+ points for their teams. In the end, it was the Brooklyn Nets that came away with the win. Kevin Durant had 37 to Mitchell’s 30 and the Nets did a great job of keeping Rudy Gobert off the boards. The league leader in rebounds only managed to have 4 rebounds today.
Both teams had only 4 players that scored in double digits. For the Nets, it was Durant (37 points, 8 assists, and 9 rebounds), Bruce Brown ( 22 points, 5 assists, and 7 rebounds), Nick Claxton (15 points and 6 rebounds), and Patty Mills (13 points). For the Jazz, it was Mitchell (30 points), Rudy Gobert (11 points), Mike Conley (18 points and 7 assists), and Jordan Clarkson (19 points and 6 rebounds).
Eventually, it came down to the supporting cast of the superstars. The Nets won that battle and ended up beating the Utah Jazz 114-106. With both Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons out, Durant has had to carry a heavy load. But despite that, he hasn’t disappointed and has led his team to wins. The team is just 3 games away from the 6 seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. If the Nets win enough games they could get out of the Play-In games.
Right now the Nets are the 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. Despite being in the Play-In games, no one is as worried about the Nets not making the Playoffs. While the absence of Kyrie Irving makes the situation unpredictable in the Playoffs, for the Play-In, Kevin Durant can definitely win a game for the Nets. He is one of the best players in the game for a reason.
The loss against Durant and the Nets affects the Jazz a lot worse than it does the Nets. The Jazz is in competition with the Dallas Mavericks for the 4 seed in the Western Conference. The two teams will probably meet up in the first round in the Playoffs and home-court advantage will play a crucial role. While the Jazz is still ahead of the Mavericks there is just a one-game gap between the 2. These last few games are extremely important for both teams to determine a home-court advantage.
