Kevin Durant scored seven of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and Jeff Green had 22 points when the Brooklyn Nets secured a playoff spot by beating the Toronto Raptors 116-103 too late.

Brooklyn trailed 90-84 early in the fourth period and used a groundbreaking 16-2 run to take control. Durant later hit a 3-pointer with 1:47 remaining and stared at the Toronto bench after pitching his team 111-101.

Durant, who played his second game after returning from a hamstring injury, added 10 rebounds in 33 minutes for his eighth double-double.

“Just for all the adversity we went through this year with injuries, logs, trading situations and guys in and out of the lineup, I’m very proud of everyone in the organization from top to bottom,” said Durant.

Kyrie Irving finished the race with nine points, six rebounds and four assists. Seven other nets scored double digits on the night Brooklyn became the first Eastern Conference team to occupy a playoff spot.

The Nets won for the third straight and fourth time in five games to keep Toronto from finishing the season run.

Luka Doncic surpassed Stephen Curry for the first time in five direct duels of his career and Dallas scored 28 consecutive points bridging the first and second quarters as the Mavericks beat the Golden State Warriors 133-103.

Doncic had a game high of 39 points on the second night of a clash, helping the Mavericks (34-27) win the season streak 2-1 against the Warriors (31-31) and winning 3-1 / 2 games in the duel the playoff position in the Western Conference.

The blowout was Dallas’ third in a row in the two-year history of the San Francisco Chase Center.

The Mavericks, who have never lost in the building, flashed the Warriors by 20 and 27 points last season.

Anfernee Simons’ 27 points 9 out of 10 from 3 point distance led a dominant performance by the Portland Trail Blazers during a 133-112 win over the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.

The Oklahoma City Thunder prevented a franchise record of 15 games with a 119-115 win over the Boston Celtics, while the Milwaukee Bucks fought off the Charlotte Hornets 114-104 to avoid a rash in the team’s regular season series

The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Houston Rockets 114-107 for their third straight win.

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The opportunity for a special player or even a special athlete turned out to be too attractive in BearDigest.com Mock Draft 5.0, the penultimate mock draft and April 1st.

It’s been two weeks of pro days since the last mock and the latest mock draft included trades and a player that is sure to delight many Bears fans. It has met everyone’s needs as well, although in some cases with some risks and also some players who really have question marks.

What is a trade without a question mark?

In keeping with the idea that GM Ryan Pace can’t draw players who count a lot in rounds 6 and 7 – he has a total of seven starts from players drafted in those rounds in six years – the picks the bears are made of Gathered in Round 6 this year were used as trading bait to easily level up and pick better players.

It’s quality over quantity when you’re already in position and the bears have been in the playoffs for two of the past three years. They’re not Detroit or some other team starting from scratch trying to fill roster posts with young bodies.

Trade I.

Before drafting, hoping to land Justin Fields, I offered the Atlanta Falcons a deal and they accepted. A team starting with a new staff

and if there is a quarterback, he may like more picks, when in reality it will cost the Bears far more than my offer to Atlanta to position for a quarterback. I sent the 20th pick in Round 1, the first and second rounds for next year, and a sixth round pick for next year to Atlanta to move up so I can be in position for Fields. If you remember, the 49ers handed out three # 1s and one third place finish to go from # 12 to # 3. So my trade from 20 to 4 looks like a complete bargain.

PFF only gave the deal a C.

Tough. I liked it.

Trade II

The goal was to get rid of some of the late rubbish that leads Pace to throw leaflets about people like Stephen Denmark or Kerrith Whyte and get to a place where a more productive player could be picked. A three-for-one offer of 204, 208 and 228 for the 159th player was accepted by the Los Angeles Chargers and the Bear’s old buddy Brandon Staley, who needs numbers to rebuild. So the Bears have an extra early fifth round and lose six round players who wouldn’t matter much anyway.

Round 1, Selection # 4: Trey Lance, QB, N. Dakota St.

The New York Jets all crossed twice in the draft simulator. Instead of taking Zach Wilson, they chose Fields, the player I was promoted to.

The drafting simulator came from Pro Football Focus and doesn’t appear to be buying the 49ers-Mac Jones rumor. They then had the 49ers take Wilson.

These steps thwarted my trading, but not entirely.

Trey Lance isn’t the quarterback Wilson is, or the combination of athlete and proven passerby Fields, but he’s a very special athlete. He’s not a special quarterback yet, having had so little experience with top talent and almost no gaming experience due to the pandemic last year.

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SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 15: James Harden # 13 of the Brooklyn Nets passes the ball against … [+] the Sacramento Kings during the first half of an NBA basketball game at the Golden 1 Center on February 15, 2021 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: The user expressly acknowledges and agrees that by downloading and / or using this photo, the user is agreeing to the terms of the Getty Images license agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)

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James Harden has distributed many assists on the basketball court this season, but his main support is getting off the court.

With the state of Texas grappling with an ongoing power and water crisis as a result of a winter storm, Harden worked to help the city of Houston, where he played from 2012-21, before being sent on the grids last month.

On Saturday, Harden donated 3,000 meals to Houston residents through his new restaurant, Thirteen, and has also worked to donate much-needed water and sanitation.

“I am on the phone literally all day every day trying to influence the city because they have shown me so much love and respect during the time I was there that I call Houston home,” Harden said after he had 37 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds as the Nets won their sixth straight and completed a perfect 5-0 swing on the west coast with a 112-108 win over the Clippers.

“It’s obviously devastating. This is likely worse than the hurricane [Harvey] Just because we don’t know how many people are affected, have no electricity, have no electricity, cannot eat, or are outside, or whatever the case may be. “

Harden is also working with contractors and installers to help with burst pipes caused by the cold conditions.

“We’re trying to feed as many people as possible,” he said. “[Also] lots of water, call Body Armor who will help me with this, we’re getting lots of water this week for people i will post. And then, as for the plumbing work, I reached out to some plumbing companies that have been looking after 7-8 houses a day for the past few days to mend those pipes because once the power is back on the pipes will probably be burst and we’ve seen so many cases in Houston that I got in touch with the mayor [Sylvester] Turner, the Relief Gang, just so many people who can help when I’m not there and that’s a big problem of course, but I try to influence it and help as much as possible when I’m not there. “

Harden had an ugly argument with the Rockets after skipping the start of training camp and then asking for action.

Since Harden joined the Nets, they’re 13-6 and now they’re at 20-12, half a game behind Philadelphia

Even so, he maintains close ties with Houston and promises to continue to support the people there.

“And it won’t stop because so many people are affected,” he said, “that I can’t stop.”

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