Cleveland Cavaliers’ Collin Sexton and Turkish NBA star Cedi Osman were on song as they led their side to a 147-135 victory over Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
Sexton scored a career-record 42 while Osman also played a key role in the win with 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Nets’ Kyrie Irving needed some time and so will his new-look side.
Irving returned from his personal “pause” and scored 37 points in his first game with Kevin Durant and James Harden but Brooklyn's “Big 3” couldn't keep up with Cleveland's Collin Sexton, who scored 42 and led the Cavaliers to a 147-135 double-overtime win on Wednesday night.
Sexton made four 3-pointers – most of them over Irving – and scored 15 points in the second OT. He dropped two 3s and fed Taurean Prince for another in a dizzying, 55-second span as Cleveland put it away.
“He played out of his mind,” said Cavs forward Cedi Osman, who scored 25. “It was amazing.”
While it was tough to lose, Irving was impressed by Sexton, who looked a lot like Irving on one of his scoring tears.
'"Two overtimes for my first game back?" said Irving, who played a career-high 48 minutes in his first game since Jan. 5. ”You gotta love NBA ball, though. I was smiling when Collin Sexton was making those shots."
Durant scored 38 points and Harden added 21 as Brooklyn's trio of superstars combined for 96 points in their first game together. But it wasn't enough to outlast Sexton, who missed Cleveland's last five games with a sprained ankle.
The Cavs threw some exotic defenses at the Nets, who only got Irving back at practice on Tuesday and haven't had time to work on much.
“Look, this is the first night," Brooklyn coach Steve Nash said. "We seemed a little lost at times. We were a little flat and disjointed at times.”
As Sexton knocked down one big shot after another in the second OT, players on Cleveland's bench tackled each other in delight. Prince, acquired in the four-team deal that brought Harden to Brooklyn, scored 17 in his Cavs debut and Larry Nance Jr. had 15.
Sexton will forever be linked to Irving. He was selected by Cleveland with the draft pick the Cavs got from Boston in the trade for Irving in 2017.
Like Irving, Sexton wears No. 2, and like Irving, he makes big shots.
“I definitely accepted the challenge,” Sexton said. “I knew it wasn't going to be easy – because it's Kyrie.”
The Nets overcame a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter and tied it at 113-all on Irving's putback with 1:10 left. In the first OT, after Durant's free throws put the Nets up 127-124, Sexton hit a 3-pointer from up top over Irving with 1.2 seconds left. Durant's last chance, a contested 3-pointer at the horn, was short.
The Cavs, however, weren't intimidated by Brooklyn's firepower or flash.
In the second quarter, Sexton ran back on defense and cleanly flicked the ball away from Durant as he was going in on a breakaway dunk.
Irving's return to the Nets was also just his second game in Cleveland since he was traded by the Cavs after the 2017 season. Strangely, Irving had missed each of his team's previous visits to Ohio since his debut with the Boston Celtics four years ago.
It was Irving's jumper late in Game 7 that helped the Cavs win the 2016 title, and the team saluted him with a video tribute in the first quarter. Many of the 2,000 fans in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse stood and saluted Irving, who touched his chest and waved in appreciation.
