BOSTON — Kyrie Irving scored 37 points and combined with Kevin Durant to score 66 and the Brooklyn Nets bullied the Boston Celtics 123-95 in another statement win this early season on Christmas Day.
Full Brooklyn Nets vs. Boston Celtics
TOP PERFORMERS –
Kyrie Irving BKN
– PG 37 PTS, 6 REB, 8 AST
Jaylen Brown BOS
– SG 27 PTS, 8 REB, 3 AST
Complete Box Score
Irving had a slow start to the game, but recovered to score 14 points in the second quarter to end the half with 17. He shot 13 of 21 overall from the field and connected on 7 for 10 attempts from 3-pointers with eight assists and six rebounds.
It was Irving’s first regular-season game at TD Garden since he decided to leave Boston and opted out of his contract in 2019.
Tough First Half For Durant
Meanwhile, Durant also shook off his early struggles and a tough first half where he scored just six points to end the game with 29 on 9 for 16 shooting with four rebounds, three steals, and two assists for the Nets.
Caris LeVert added 10 points, while Jarrett Allen had 11 rebounds and nine points for Brooklyn (2-0), which led by as much as 28 points and shot 53.9% from the field on 37 of 98 shooting.
Jaylen Brown scored 27 points to lead Boston (1-1) and also had eight rebounds and three assists.
Jayson Tatum failed to score in the first quarter after going 0 of 3 in the period but managed to finish the game with 20 points and eight rebounds. He shot just 9 of 22 from the field.
Marcus Smart ended with 13 points and six assists for the Celtics, which shot 29.6% from 3-pointers (8-27) and 37.8% (37-98) from the field overall.
Brooklyn led 26-22 after the first quarter and went into the halftime break with a 54-51 advantage.
After the break, Durant took over as the Nets entered the third period with an 86-77 lead.
The Celtics defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in their season opener on Wednesday, but weren’t able to navigate past this Nets team, which is being considered as one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference title this season.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Nets will visit the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
Boston travels to Indiana for games against the Pacers on Sunday and Tuesday.
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