3 observations from the Brooklyn Nets’ Play-In victory over the Cavaliers

The Brooklyn Nets (44-38) hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers (44-38) in a Play-In game on Tuesday night. The winner would get the 7-seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. A 40-point first quarter put the Nets ahead by 20, and they never looked back en route to a 115-108 victory.

Kyrie Irving led the Nets with 34 points on 12-for-15 shooting and dished 12 assists. Kevin Durant scored 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting to go along with 11 assists. Behind the two stars, Bruce Brown contributed 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Darius Garland led Cleveland with 34 points on 13-for-24 shooting and dished 5 assists. Rookie big Evan Mobley notched 19 points on 9-for-13 shooting and secured 7 rebounds.

Here are 3 observations from Brooklyn’s victory.

Kyrie Irving, untouchable through 3 quarters

Much had been made of the controversial guard’s struggles shooting the ball at times throughout the final few weeks of the regular season. But all of that was irrelevant on Tuesday, if only for a brief moment. Irving made all 11 of his field goal attempts through the first 3 quarters of the game. He revealed his humanity with a 1-for-4 showing in the game’s final quarter.

Nic Claxton steps up

What a moment it was for Brooklyn’s reserve big man. Mind you — there were rumors that the Nets wanted Andre Drummond included in the Ben Simmons deal because they intended to trade Claxton before the deadline, but a deal never materialized.

Claxton went from that to being a fixture in the Nets’ victory on Tuesday. In 29 minutes of play, Claxton converted all 6 of his field goal attempts and secured 9 rebounds. Perhaps most impactful of all, Claxton registered 5 blocks.

For a team that is known to be thin on the tall end of the size spectrum, Claxton played an enormous role in the 7-point victory.

Brooklyn's stars trusted the role players

Cleveland made a late surge back into competitive play after trailing by double digits for the vast majority of the game. And as the affair drew to a close, the Cavaliers sent traps towards Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to make anyone else beat them. But instead of trying to win the game with heroics, the stars trusted their teammates. Namely, Bruce Brown served as an emergency valve to relieve the pressure on the ball 30 feet from the basket.

Durant and Irving found Brown in the middle of the floor when he made himself available by flashing high. With all of the space and time to make decisions, Brown wrapped up the victory with some opportune playmaking as the fourth act came to a close, floating a lob to Claxton for a flush and then depositing a bucket at the rim courtesy of Irving in the final minute.

The 7-seed Nets will face the 2-seed Celtics starting with Game 1 on Sunday in Boston. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 PM, Eastern time. You can watch the drama unfold on ABC.

Boston won the season series, 3-1, with a point differential of +45. But, the Nets seem quite confident in their chances:

Story originally appeared on Nets Wire