The Rundown: Hawks survive Durant’s 55, rise to eighth place

The Hawks overcame Kevin Durant’s 55-point performance to grab the eighth seed in the East while sending the Nets to 10th place.

Scoreboard

Heat 127, Bulls 109

Hawks 122, Nets 115

Cavaliers 119, Knicks 101

Sixers 144, Hornets 114

Warriors 111, Jazz 107

What went down

Kevin Durant would have been today's big-time baller, but the Hawks had other plans. KD was unstoppable, dropping 55 points, but that wasn't enough.

49 POINTS pic.twitter.com/QDeQphXAJ8
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) April 3, 2022

The Hawks held on to the crucial win behind 36 points and 10 assists from Trae Young. Atlanta vaulted up to the eighth seed with the win with a 41-37 record. The Nets, on the other hand, dropped to 10th in the East, meaning they might not have homecourt advantage even for the rest of the play-in tournament at 40-38.

ICE BERG

ICE TRAE

ICE TRAE pic.twitter.com/SYEgdn9xJX
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) April 3, 2022

Big-time baller

Joel Embiid had a monster night to lead Philly to an easy win over the Charlotte Hornets.

29 PTS | 14 REB | 6 AST

just another double-double day for our EMVPIID.

🎥 presented by @PALottery pic.twitter.com/GfuXaTTIDy
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 2, 2022

Embiid had 29 points on 12-for-16 shooting with 14 rebounds and six assists.

The MVP race this season is bound to be one of the closest ever with Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo all having solid cases to bring home the award.

With Embiid playing this way, Philly might not just be getting their first MVP since Allen Iverson, but also a championship.

What he said

The Los Angeles Lakers are in trouble. They’re 11th in the West and don’t have the tiebreaker against either the San Antonio Spurs or New Orleans Pelicans, the two teams they’re chasing.

Anthony Davis believes they can win all their remaining games to salvage this season.

AD said he, LeBron, and the entire #Lakers locker room believes they can go 5-0 to finish the season.
— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) April 2, 2022

Did you see that?

The Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off one of the fanciest fastbreaks of the season in their rout of the New York Knicks.

Pretty passing 😍@betwayusa | #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/31A9DIDSZu
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 2, 2022

The Rundown: Hawks survive Durant’s 55, rise to eighth place

The Hawks overcame Kevin Durant’s 55-point performance to grab the eighth seed in the East while sending the Nets to 10th place.

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The Rundown: Hawks survive Durant’s 55, rise to eighth place

The Hawks overcame Kevin Durant’s 55-point performance to grab the eighth seed in the East while sending the Nets to 10th place.

By the numbers: NBA continues global growth with record-tying 125 international players

NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum highlighted the opportunity to grow the league across six continents with their record numbers.

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