DETROIT — Kevin Durant scored a career-high 26 of his 43 points in the third quarter, helping the Brooklyn Nets overcome a 17-point halftime deficit in a 124-121 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night.
Kyrie Irving added 38 points in Brooklyn's seventh straight victory over Detroit. Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pistons with 26 points.
Durant was 8 of 10 from the floor, going 3 of 3 on 3-pointers and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line as he outscored the Pistons 26-25 in the third.
However, his turnover led to a Bogdanovic 3-pointer that cut Brooklyn's lead to 120-119 with 40 seconds left.
Irving missed a 3-pointer at the other end, but Killian Hayes was called for a foul. Pistons coach Dwane Casey unsuccessfully challenged the call, and Irving hit two free throws before missing the third to make it 122-119 with 29 seconds left.
Bogdanovic missed, but Alec Burks hit a layup before fouling Durant, who made both free throws to keep it a three-point game.
Bogadanovic missed again and Durant grabbed the rebound as time expired.
Durant has scored at least 40 points in his last three games against Detroit — the first player to do that since Rick Barry in 1966-67 — including an arena-record 51 in Brooklyn's 116-104 win in Detroit on Dec. 21, 2021.
The Pistons led 71-54 at halftime, but Durant's third-quarter run ended with a 3-pointer with three seconds left to give the Nets a 98-96 lead.
With Durant getting a rest, Irving scored eight points in the first 4:20 of the fourth, helping Brooklyn to a 109-104 advantage.
TIP INS
Nets: Durant passed John Havilcek (26,395) and Paul Pierce (26,397) on the NBA scoring list in the first quarter. He is currently at 26,437 — 61 behind Tim Duncan. ... Durant has scored at least 25 points in his last 12 visits to Detroit, the second-longest streak behind Wilt Chamberlain's 23.
Pistons: Jalen Duren finished with 11 rebounds, his sixth straight game with at least 11, the longest streak by a teenager since Dwight Howard had seven straight for Orlando in 2005.
UP NEXT
Nets: Host Golden State on Wednesday night.
Pistons: Host Utah on Tuesday night.
