LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Brooklyn star Kyrie Irving drilled a buzzer-beating three-pointer to lift the Nets to fifth straight National Basketball Association victory on Friday as reigning champions Golden State and league-leading Boston both lost.
Irving’s step-back three-pointer gave the Nets a 119-116 victory over the Raptors in Toronto.
Irving led the Nets with 32 points. Kevin Durant added 28 as Brooklyn notched their ninth win in 10 games.
Brooklyn trailed by as many as 18 in the first half, but rallied to stay a game behind third-placed Cleveland in the Eastern Conference.
The Cavs — fueled by 41 points from Donovan Mitchell — rallied for a 118-112 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Fred VanVleet scored a game-high 39 points for the Raptors, his pull-up three-pointer knotting the score at 105-105 with 3:06 to play.
Brooklyn responded with dunks from Ben Simmons and Durant as the teams traded the lead, the Nets going up 116-114 with 14.1 seconds left on a three-pointer by Yuta Watanabe who was fed by Irving.
Toronto’s Scottie Barnes made two free throws to tie it up again, but Irving came through at the buzzer.
The Nets stayed a game ahead of the fifth-placed Philadelphia 76ers, who beat the short-handed Warriors 118-106 in Philadelphia.
Joel Embiid scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and James Harden added 27 points and nine assists for the Sixers, who were short-handed themselves with Tobias Harris a late scratch with back pain.
