The Brooklyn Nets missed the direct play-off entry. They lost 115-122 at the Atlanta Hawks despite a new career-best score from Kevin Durant.
Durant scored 55 points and Kyrie Irving also had a good day with 31 points. However, she could not make up for the weak performance of her teammates. The Nets allowed the Hawks to shoot 49 free throws, 37 of which were converted.
“I’m upset about this loss. I shot well but would have rather walked out with the win by just doing the little things,” Durant said. He is the fifth player to score at least 55 points in a game this season after teammate Irving, Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota/both 60), Trae Young (Atlanta) and LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers/both 56). In 2021/22, a professional reached the 50-point mark 19 times – in the entire 2020/21 season, this happened 14 times. The NBA record has been held since 1962 by the legendary Wilt Chamberlain, who scored an incredible 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors.
Title contender Brooklyn is only in tenth place in the Eastern Conference with four games to go and will have to fight for a play-off ticket in the “Play-in-Tournament” after the second defeat in a row.
The Charlotte Hornets will have to take the same path. They lost clearly 114-144 to the Philadelphia 76ers on Gordon Hayward’s comeback. The 76ers, for whom Joel Embiid was the best thrower with 29 points, thus get the chance for a better ranking. They are currently just two wins behind leaders Miami Heat, who beat the Chicago Bulls 127-109.
Golden State in the playoffs
The Golden State Warriors defeated the Utah Jazz 111-107 thanks to a Klay Thompson show (8 threes) to secure a spot in the play-offs and a chance to clinch home court in the first round of the postseason. The Warriors had battled back from an interim 21-point deficit.
