NEW YORK — He did it again.
Kevin Durant refused to let the Nets really complicate their playoff picture, refused to let them lose a game that some were calling possibly their biggest of the season.
Durant put up 36 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, to push the Nets to a 118-107 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The win kept the Nets in seventh place, giving them the tiebreaker over Cleveland. That means if they close out their regular season with a win over Indiana on Sunday, they will host a play-in game against the No. 8 seed here on Tuesday.
“That’s the luxury of having one of the all-time great players,” coach Steve Nash said when asked what he felt seeing Durant take over the game. “He’s been there before. He’s got the skill and poise to do it.”
The Nets also got a good game from Bruce Brown who put up 18 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and four blocked shots. Kyrie Irving struggled to knock down shots, scoring 18 points, but shooting 7 for 22.
Cleveland was led by Darius Garland, who scored 31 points.
On Wednesday, Durant told reporters he was tired of being in close games after his team had to battle back from a 21-point, third-quarter deficit to beat the Knicks, 110-98. The Nets had celebrated big time after their victory over their crosstown rivals — a video of the gleeful exchange between Durant and Kyrie Irvin went viral — but Durant said he didn’t like being a team that has to dig itself out of a hole.
“It’s risky I hate being down. I hate even being on that team,” Durant said. “I don’t want that to be a part of who we are.”
Durant made his feelings known early in the game when the Nets were basically trading baskets with the Cavaliers. In the final 7:14 of the first quarter, Durant rattled off 16 points to give the Nets a 34-19 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Nets led by 17 points in the first half before Cleveland started chipping away at their advantage. The Cavaliers got as close as five in the first half, thanks to the play of Garland, who who had 16 first-half points and shot 7 for 12.
The Nets headed into the locker room with 62-54 advantage. They continued to hold on to the lead until 5:05 in the third quarter, when Isaac Okoro scored on a driving layup to give Cleveland an 82-81 advantage. The Cavaliers scored six more unanswered points to complete a dominating 28-11 run.
"I think we just got a big lead and relaxed a little bit," Brown said.
The Cavaliers had plenty of incentive to get this win as they close out the season Sunday against a tough Milwaukee team in Cleveland. The Cavaliers are also trying to make history this season. Should this young Cleveland make it to the playoffs, it would mark the first time a Cavaliers team without LeBron James on the roster made it to the playoffs since 1998.
