Former Duke basketball teammates playing for NBA's hottest team
No NBA team has won more games than the Brooklyn Nets since Thanksgiving. The star-studded squad is almost 100 percent healthy and has reeled off wins in 12 of its last 13 outings, thanks partly to the increasingly consistent production of late from two members of the 2010-11 Duke basketball team in guards Kyrie Irving and Seth Curry.
On Black Friday, Brooklyn had a 9-11 record. One month later, following Friday night's 118-100 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks (22-10), the Nets have won eight straight and are 21-12.
They sit No. 4 in the Eastern Conference standings and are only 2.0 games back of the NBA-leading Boston Celtics (23-10), featuring NBA Blue Devil and top MVP candidate Jayson Tatum.
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Kyrie Irving, who went No. 1 overall in the 2011 NBA Draft after his one-and-done Duke basketball campaign, is heating up, eclipsing 30 points in four of his last six games. And he's back to regularly delivering spectacular highlights, such as these from his 14-point fourth quarter against the Bucks:
Now averaging 25.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.6 assists across his 23 appearances this season, the 30-year-old Irving has given himself a chance to earn his eighth All-Star nod.
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Meanwhile, sharpshooter Seth Curry's 39.3 shooting percentage from deep this season marks a career-low. However, the 32-year-old, who went undrafted out of Duke in 2013, has drained 21 of 48 attempts beyond the arc (43.8 percent) since Thanksgiving.
Curry is currently averaging 8.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists across his 21.7 minutes per game off the bench this season.
The Brooklyn Nets now have an opportunity to leapfrog the Cleveland Cavaliers (22-12) in the standings when they square off in Cleveland at 7 p.m. ET Monday.
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