Durant helps Suns beat former team
NEW YORK: Kevin Durant scored 33 points in his return to Brooklyn, leading the Phoenix Suns to a 136-120 victory over the Nets on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).
Durant added eight assists in his first game in Brooklyn since being traded to Phoenix nearly a year ago. He got a mixed reception early before helping take the crowd out of it with 11 points in the third quarter, when the Suns outscored the Nets 42-26 after leading by three at halftime.
Durant’s return earned the game a national-TV slot but it wasn’t much of a contest in the second half. The Suns, with Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, are trying to build a title contender, while the Nets — who not long ago had their own Big 3 with Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden — are 19-28 and outside the playoff position.
Jusuf Nurkic added 28 points and 11 rebounds for the Suns, overwhelming an undersized Nets team as the Suns won for the ninth time in 11 games. They improved to 3-2 on a trip that has stops remaining in Atlanta and Washington, Beal’s former home.
Booker finished with 22 points and Eric Gordon had 17. The Suns shot 62 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.
Cam Thomas scored 25 points for the Nets, who had won two straight games. Mikal Bridges, who came to the Nets in the Durant trade, had 21.
Timberwolves 121, Mavericks 87
In Minneapolis, Karl-Anthony
Towns had 29 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota against depleted Dallas, which played without stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Rudy Gobert scored 17 points for the West-leading Wolves (3414). They endured a sluggish start until Towns sparked their surge with two 3-pointers in the last 35 seconds of the first half to give them the lead for good. Towns had 11 points in the third quarter.
Doncic (sprained right ankle) and Irving (sprained right thumb) both sat for the third game this season, and the Mavericks have lost all three. They’ve played without at least one of them 26 times in 48 games.
Josh Green had 18 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 14 points for the Mavericks. They shot just 6 for 29 from 3-point range against the NBA’s best scoring defense.
Thunder 105, Nuggets 100
In Oklahoma City, Shai GilgeousAlexander scored 34 points to help Oklahoma City beat short-handed Denver in a matchup of teams near the top of the Western Conference standings.
Denver star Nikola Jokic sat out because of pain in his lower back. Oklahoma City took advantage of the two-time league MVP’s absence by holding the defending champion Nuggets to 39.8 percent shooting.
Chet Holmgren had 18 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks, and reserves Aaron Wiggins and Vasilije Micic each added 12 points for the Thunder.
Aaron Gordon had 16 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, and Michael Porter Jr. had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Nuggets.
Clippers 125, Wizards 109
In Washington, Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, James Harden added 25 and Los Angeles pulled away with a big third quarter to beat Washington.
Los Angeles outscored Washington 40-19 in the third after leading by 10 in the first half.
Harden’s pullup 3 from the top of the arc stretched the lead to 20 for the first time with 5:42 left in the period. Later, Leonard’s emphatic dunk off a driving, spinning feed from Russell Westbrook pushed it to 25, and Norman Powell’s basket made it 106-79 at the end of the third.
Kyle Kuzma scored 23 of his 27 points in the first half for Washington. The Wizards are 2-2 under interim coach Brian Keefe after Wes Unseld Jr. was fired last week.
Cavs 128, Pistons 121
In Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell scored 20 of his 45 points in the fourth quarter, Darius Garland had 19 points in his return from a broken jaw and Cleveland held off NBAworst Detroit.
Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Isaac Okoro added 14 points. Cleveland won for the 11th time in 12 games and is an NBA-best 16-4 since December 16.
Danilo Gallinari scored 20 points and went 4 of 4 on 3-pointers, and Cade Cunningham had 19 points and seven assists for Detroit, which was seeking its first back-to-back wins since October 27 to 28. The Pistons are 6-41.
Heat 115, Kings 106
In Miami, Jimmy Butler scored 31 points and Miami beat Sacramento to end a seven-game losing streak.
Butler shot 10 of 14 from the field and had seven rebounds for the Heat, who ended their longest losing streak since dropping 15 straight during the 2007-08 season. Josh Richardson was 6 of 10 from 3-point range and finished with a season-high 24 points.
Domantas Sabonis had 19 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists for his 13th triple-double of the season for Sacramento. Keegan Murray scored 33 points.