While elite players around the league were resting on this final day of the regular season, the Nets once again needed big games from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to win a critical game.
The Nets (44-38) will host the No. 8 Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night with the winner going into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. They earned the right to do so Sunday with a 134-126 win over the Indiana Pacers that featured huge games from their two big stars and gave them the No. 7 spot in the play-in.
Kevin Durant had a career-high 16 assists along with 20 points and 10 rebounds en route to his fourth triple-double of the season. Kyrie Irving scored 35 points on 15-for-20 shooting. He also went 4-for-7 from three-point range.
The Nets now have two chances to get the one win they would need to qualify for the playoffs. If they beat the Cavaliers, they would advance to play either the Bucks or the Celtics. If they lose, they would play another play-in game Friday against the winner of the Atlanta-Charlotte play-in game.
Oshae Brissett led the Pacers (35-47) with 28.
