Business as usual for healthy Durant and league- leading Warriors
Kevin Durant scored 16 points in his return from injury as the Golden State Warriors won their 14th straight game with a 123- 101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday.
Durant also finished with a gamehigh 10 rebounds and six assists as he played 31 minutes at the Amway Center after missing 19 games with a knee injury.
“I felt good putting my jersey on and running out with the team. It felt normal again,” Durant said.
The Warriors improved to 66- 14 to extend their win streak which is the longest in the NBA this season. They had already clinched the top seeding in the Western Conference.
They won Saturday despite the ab- sence of Stephen Curry, who was sidelined by a bruised left knee.
The Pelicans ( 33- 47) played minus star big men DeMarcus Cousins ( right Achilles tendinitis) and Anthony Davis ( sore left knee).
They were also playing the second night of back- to- back games that began with a loss in Denver.
Durant suffered a sprained left knee on February 28.
Also on Saturday, Damian Lillard scored a franchise- record 59 points to power the Portland Trail Blazers to a 10186 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Lillard broke the club record of 54 points set by Damon Stoudamire in 2005.
The 26- year- old American sank 18 of 34 shots from the field, nine of 14 from three- point range and 14 of 16 from the foul line in front of a crowd of 19,800 at the Moda Center arena.
Elsewhere, Jimmy Butler did all he could, but the Chicago Bulls’ defensive lapses proved too costly to overcome in a damaging 107- 106 loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
Butler scored 33 points, but the Bulls’ bid to rally from a lackluster first half were doomed by their inability to put the brakes on the Nets in the final five minutes.
“Jimmy played amazing down the stretch,” said Chicago guard Dwyane Wade, who scored 14 points in his return after missing 11 games with a broken right elbow.
“He hit a lot of big shots for us. We just needed some stops.”
After their slow start the Bulls finally seized the lead for the first time midway through the third quarter.
Nikola Mirotic’s three- point play on a fast break gave them a 97- 88 lead with 4: 24 to play.
But Chicago didn’t score again for more than two minutes, when Butler’s jump shot gave them a 99- 98 lead.
In the meantime, Nets rookie Caris LeVert hit back- to- back three- pointers and Rondae Hollis- Jefferson made two layups.
The Bulls were unable to respond. Butler’s two free throws gave Chicago a 101- 98 lead with 1: 36 to play, but it would be their last lead of the game.