THE Brooklyn Nets stunned the Boston Celtics 115-105 on Friday in the NBA’s biggest comeback win this season.
The Nets had struggled since last month’s departures of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, losing their last four.
But Brooklyn rallied from a 28-point deficit in the second quarter, with Mikal Bridges scoring 38 points in a game shown live on the BBC.
“We just kept fighting,” said Bridges, who arrived in Durant’s trade to the Phoenix Suns.
“We got stops and that was the biggest thing. It all started with our defence.”
The Nets had trimmed the deficit to nine by half-time and took the lead for the first time – and for good – midway through the third quarter.
Jaylen Brown led Boston’s scoring with 35 points but the Celtics have now lost two of their last three and slipped further behind the Milwaukee Bucks at the top of the Eastern ConferenceNets.
Two-time reigning Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic scored 18 points with 18 rebounds and 10 assists, as the Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 113-97 in a battle of the top two teams in the Western Conference.
It was the Serb’s 25th triple-double of the season, with Denver winning each of those games, and the Nuggets pulled away after going into the final quarter level, to push their lead atop the standings to six games.
Julius Randle scored 43 points and drained the game-winning three-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining to give the New York Knicks to an eighth straight win, 122-120 at the Miami Heat.
The Golden State Warriors are still awaiting the return of injured star Stephen Curry but posted a fifth straight win, 108-99 over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Klay Thompson scored 27 points and Jonathan Kuminga added 19 off the bench as the reigning champions rallied from an early 17-point deficit.
Playing his second game for the Phoenix Suns, Kevin Durant scored 20 points while team-mate Devin Booker added 35 in a 125-104 win at the Chicago Bulls. (BBC Sport)
