National Basketball Association

Vintage KD Guides Brooklyn Past Boston

Published Dec. 25, 2020 7:47 p.m. ET

The 'Slim Reaper' showed up on Christmas Day in Boston – and boy, did he reap.

Kevin Durant scored 16 points in the third quarter, and Kyrie Irving dropped 37 for the game, catapulting Brooklyn to a 123-95 road win over Boston.

Here are the key takeaways from the third NBA Christmas Day game.

1. KD is back

It can't be said enough.

Although it's only been two games, Durant looks like he never left, and his remarkable skills were back on display Friday afternoon.

Durant finished the day with 29 points, and through two games, KD is averaging 25.5 points and shooting 50.1 percent from the field.

In the third frame, Durant connected on 6-of-7 from the field, including two threes, pouring in 16 points in the quarter and helping Brooklyn stretch its lead to nine heading into the fourth, after trailing by three at halftime.

It was a welcome sight for the NBA universe.

2. Brooklyn beasts

Don't look now, but Brooklyn is 2-0 and looks to be the class of the Eastern Conference.

Despite feasting on a wounded Golden State squad in their season-opener, that was not the case on Friday, as the Nets made their way into Boston and beat a Celtics squad that just knocked off the Milwaukee Bucks two days ago.

The scary part about the Nets?

It seems only Durant and Kyrie Irving have found their rhythm so far, considering Caris Levert scored 20 against the Warriors and Joe Harris scored 10, and then Levert scored 10 against the Celtics.

No other Nets player has scored in double-figures in Brooklyn's first two games.

In addition to Durant's 25.5 points per game, Irving is putting up 31.5 points a night after torching the Celtics for 37 on Friday, shooting 13-for-21 from the field and 7-for-10 from three.

Simply put, the duo has proved unstoppable so far.

And most importantly, both superstars look healthy.

Next up for Brooklyn is a road matchup with the Charlotte Hornets (0-1), before six straight home games, against Memphis, Atlanta twice, Washington, Utah and Philadelphia.

It looks like 8-0 is a very realistic possibility for the Brooklyn team that fans and pundits have seen so far.