Kyrie Irving had a game high 37 points in his return to Boston Christmas Night, leading the Brooklyn Nets to a 123-95 pounding of the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.
Irving hit on 7-10 on three-pointers and Kevin Durant also added 29, as Brooklyn (2-0) outscored Boston (1-1) 37-18 in the fourth quarter and overall 72-41 in the second half to pull away. The Nets are the first team since the 2002 Sacramento Kings to outscore their first two opponents of a season by 25 points or more. Jaylen Brown had 27, and Jayson Tatum 20 points to the lead the Celtics. Boston learned they lost another great on Friday, as former player and head coach K.C. Jones passed away at the age of 88 in an assisted care facility in Connecticut. Jones won 12 titles between his playing career and coaching days, and is only the seventh player in history to win a championship in college, the NBA, and to also bring home an Olympic Gold Medal.
Here is the recap from the Nets win on Friday:
