Collin Sexton surprised the Brooklyn Nets' new trio as he exploded with a career-high 42 points in Cleveland Cavalier's 147-135 double-overtime win at Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday.
Nets' Trio is No Match for Sexton
The Brooklyn's "Big 3" was expected to dominate the Cavaliers, especially with Kyrie Irving returning to the court after taking a short break due to "personal issues."
Kevin Durant, who played for 50 minutes, scored a team-high 38 points and 12 rebounds to go with eight assists.
Irving contributed 37 markers as James Harden, who played his third game with the Nets, recorded a triple-double of 21 points, 12 assists, and ten rebounds.
A typical scenario for a team full of stars is to win the game by a wide margin against an underdog team. The horror of a big loss instead foiled Irving's homecoming and the trio's debut.
In a report by The Comeback, Durant headed comfortably to the second quarter with a lot of space for a dunk, but Collin Sexton chased the forward and stripped him of ball possession. The Nets could have cut the deficit to one, but the Cavs maintained the momentum, 39-36.
Sexton, who is now on his third NBA season, had also just come back into action after a questionable sprained ankle. He missed five straight games for the Cavs, but his defensive capability from coast-to-coast hasn't left yet.
Before Collin got injured, he averages 25.1 points in 53.1 percent field goal percentage while shooting 51.6 percent from beyond the arc in the Cavs' first eight games for 2021. Many recognized him as one of the best NBA sleepers of this year.
Sexton was hot from the outside with four three-pointers. The 2018 No. 8 overall pick seemed to be unconscious in the second overtime after a 15-point salvo of successive shots.
Taurean Prince, a former Nets, poured 17 points in his first game as a Cavalier as Jarrett Allen registered a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.
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"He definitely impressed us all... what Collin has proven time and time again, against all his doubters, is that he is not afraid of the big moments," Bickerstaff told Camryn Justice of News 5 Cleveland via IBT.
Sexton has turned into an overnight superstar for the Cavaliers, as social media fans raved for the former Crimson Tide guard.
Collin Sexton vs The Nets tonight: pic.twitter.com/PzXSms7N3G
— The Pettiest Laker Fan 🤫 (@ThePettiestLA) January 21, 2021
In a one-on-one match-up of "2s," Sexton showed Irving how to finish the business in the homecourt. Both wore jersey #2, but Collin emerged as the "one" after the wild overtime clash.
"I definitely accepted the challenge. I knew it wasn't going to be easy - because it's Kyrie," Sexton said.
Amidst Cleveland backcourt duo Sexton and Darius Garland's rising popularity, fans have been reported to push "Sexland" as the tandem's name, the Cavs Nation wrote.
It turned out that the two are not on the same wavelength to accept the moniker. Larry Nance, who ended up with 15 points versus the Nets, revealed that the nickname spread in social media when tweeting it last year.
I think we’ve all decided that these 2 officially go by Sexland 🤷🏽‍♂️ https://t.co/Vn3TRWezp4
— Larry Nance (@Larrydn22) December 28, 2020
The Cavs forward said that he wasn't the one who invented it. While Sexton is okay with the duo brand, Garland is having second thoughts about the moniker.
The Cavs and Nets will meet again for the second game of the season this week.
Will, the Brooklyn Nets, bounce back from a tough loss, or will the Cavs continue their winning strategy next time?
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