NBA News: Brooklyn Nets Are Headed to NBA Playoffs After Beating Cavaliers

The 2022 NBA Play-In Tournament tipped off for the second-straight season on Tuesday night. First up on the schedule, the Eastern Conference's seventh and eighth seeds battled it out to acquire the seventh spot in the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

The winner of Tuesday's game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers would punch their ticket to the playoffs. 

The loser would have to wait and see what happens between the Atlanta Hawks and the Charlotte Hornets before getting one final shot to play for the last seed in the Eastern Conference.

As expected, Nets stars Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant were no-nonsense on Tuesday night. As the two stars have plenty of playoff and championship experience under their belt, they get up for a must-win matchup.

Both superstars checked in for 41 minutes each on Tuesday. Kyrie Irving was spectacular through the first half as he drained all nine of his shots for 20 points. The superstar guard was nearly perfect on the offensive end outside of his three turnovers.

At halftime, the Nets had a significant 57-43 lead. As they led by as much as 20 points and never allowed the Cavaliers to get out in front or even tie their score from the jump, it seemed Brooklyn was well on their way to clinching the seventh seed with ease on Tuesday night.

Cleveland put up a good fight in the second half, though. As the Cavaliers outscored the Nets 30-28 in the third quarter, Cleveland cut Brooklyn's lead down to 12. A solid fourth-quarter performance by Cavaliers standout Darius Garland gave Cleveland life. 

Unfortunately for the Cavs, it wasn't enough. Despite getting outscored in the final two quarters of the matchup, the Nets' first-half dominance gave them enough cushion to comfortably secure a 115-108 win at home on Tuesday night.

Kyrie Irving finished the matchup with a game-high of 34 points on 12-15 shooting. Meanwhile, Durant produced 25 points of his own while former Sixers center Andre Drummond combined for 34 points along with Bruce Brown.

With that victory, the Nets are playoff-bound once again. As they are the East's seventh seed, Brooklyn will face the Boston Celtics for a first-round series. As for the Cavaliers, they'll have another opportunity to clinch a spot in the postseason when they face the winner of the Charlotte Hornets versus Atlanta Hawks matchup.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.