They have been on the identical ground once more. But on completely different groups.
Sunday’s matinee matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns featured Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving’s first sport towards one another for the reason that stars departed from Brooklyn earlier than the commerce deadline.
Their elite offensive effectivity was on show within the Suns’ 130-126 victory in Dallas. Durant completed with 37 factors, taking pictures 12-of-17 from the sector. Irving completed with 30 factors and dished out seven assists.
The tightly contested matchup Sunday was precisely 4 years after the 2 superstars final performed a sport as opponents, with Irving’s Celtics defeating Durant’s Warriors, 128-95. That sport was determined early because the Celtics went into halftime up 25.
This time was completely different.
This sport had playoff seeding implications and went all the way down to the wire. Irving and Durant traded buckets within the fourth quarter however the Suns ahead’s pull-up jumper with 11 seconds remaining gave his staff the lead. The former MVP additionally knocked down two free throws on the next possession to ice the sport.
Sunday’s consequence notches the Mavericks’ fifth loss in 9 video games with Irving this season. The guard is averaging 27 factors, 6.8 assists and 4.9 rebounds along with his new staff. His addition makes the Mavericks an offensive juggernaut when paired with Luka Doncic, however the staff has a tough time getting wanted stops on protection.
Durant is undefeated when suiting up for the Suns to date, averaging 26.7 factors, 7.3 rebounds and three.7 assists in three video games.
Doncic completed with 34 factors within the matinee sport, however missed an open floater to tie the sport late. Doncic and Devin Booker, who scored 36 factors, have been each issued technical fouls after going nose-to-nose with one another after the play.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com