Three Things is NBC’s five-days-a-week wrap-up of the night before in the NBA. Check out NBCSports.com every weekday morning to catch up on what you missed the night before plus the rumors, drama, and dunks that make the NBA great.
In Atlanta, Trae Young was doing his thing, dropping 30 on the Wizards and the Hawks won going away.
That meant to hang on to the No. 8 seed in the East, the Brooklyn Nets needed to win as well — the Hawks and Nets entered the night tied for eighth, but Brooklyn has the tiebreaker.
The Nets trailed by as much as 21 to the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, and with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter the Knicks were up by 18. That’s when Durant started to take over: He played the entire second half scoring 23 points, including eight straight points during one key stretch in the fourth, and he finished the night with 32 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
The Nets got the win, 110-98. Kevin Durant has not lost a game to the Knicks in nine years.
Kyrie Irving added 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and also played the entire second half of this game, a sign the Nets knew how important this win was.
The four teams in the East play-in are set; here is where they stand as of Thursday morning:
7. Cavaliers (43-37) 8. Nets (42-38, 1 game back) 9. Atlanta (42-38, 1 game back) 10. Charlotte (40-39 2.5 games back)
The big game is Friday night when Cleveland comes to Brooklyn — if the Nets win, they will move into the No. 7 seed (and can hold it by beating a tanking Pacers team in the season’s final game). If the Cavaliers win that game, they keep the No. 7 seed and open the door for the Hawks to move past the Nets into the No. 8 slot (Atlanta closes the season at Miami then at
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