The scorching Brooklyn Nets can complete the sweep of a four-game road trip with a victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
The Nets have won five straight games and nine of their last 10 games, although their most recent victory did not come easy.
Brooklyn needed a Kyrie Irving 3-pointer just before the final buzzer to defeat the Toronto Raptors 119-116. Irving had never previously drained a buzzer-beating game-winner in his career.
He wasn’t supposed to take the final shot. Coach Jacque Vaughn drew up a play for Kevin Durant, but Durant felt Irving had the hot hand.
Irving finished with 32 points, while Durant had 28. Brooklyn also got a boost from reserve forward Yuta Watanabe, who scored 17 points in 21 minutes.
The Nets also collected victories over Indiana and Washington during the current trip, in advance of the first of three meetings between the Nets and Pistons this season.
Detroit is coming off a 122-113 home loss to the Sacramento Kings. The Pistons led 63-55 at halftime but the Kings took control with a 17-2 run at the beginning of the second half. The Kings outscored Detroit 38-23 during the third quarter. The Pistons crept within three points in the fourth quarter but couldn’t complete the comeback.
Detroit collected a 141-134 overtime road victory against Charlotte in its previous outing.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pistons with 22 points but shot just 6 of 16 from the field. Rookie center Jalen Duren had 15 points and 14 rebounds, including six boards on the offensive end. Duren has grabbed 12 or more rebounds in each of the last five games.
