Harden, Durant lead Nets past Magic
Brooklyn duo combine for 47, sit in 4th quarter of comfortable win
Kevin Durant scored 30 points and James Harden had his 59th career triple double in the Brooklyn Nets’ 123-90 victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.
Durant, the NBA’S leading scorer at 29.5 points per game, made 11 of 12 shots, including both of his 3-point attempts, to help Brooklyn win for the sixth time in seven games. Harden had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to help.
The two stars sat out the fourth quarter, with the Nets up 94-75 after three.
“We just wanted to come back and get that bad taste out of our mouth,” said Harden. “That (second) unit did an unbelievable job. A great effort in a bounce-back win.”
Lamarcus Aldridge came off the bench with a big second quarter to put Brooklyn in command. He had 21 points and eight rebounds.
Terrence Ross led Orlando with 17 points, and Mo Bamba added 14 points and nine rebounds. The Magic shot 38 percent and made 4 of 33 3-point shots.
Aldridge hit three 3-pointers and scored 15 points in his first eight minutes in the game, helping the Nets pull out to a 19point lead late in the first half.
“I was glad he was able to come out and extend the lead for us, and win the game for us basically,” Durant said about of the 36-year-old Aldridge, who also had eight rebounds.
Harden, who is third in the NBA in assists, had six in the first quarter.
Bucks 112, Knicks 100: Pat Connaughton scored a season-high 23 points, making three late 3-pointers to swing a wild second half back in Milwaukee’s favor, and the Bucks blew a
24-point lead before beating New York. Less than a week after the Knicks came from 21 down to win 113-98 at Milwaukee, the Bucks opened a 70-46 cushion midway through the third quarter. But the Knicks’ reserves wiped that away and the game was tied with five minutes to play. Jrue Holiday
scored 18 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 15 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for the Bucks. They won at Philadelphia on Tuesday night. Derrick Rose had 22 points and seven assists for New York, while Immanuel Quickley scored 18 points. New York’s starters were ineffective all night and coach Tom Thibodeau stuck with his reserves for the final 11⁄2 quarters.
Celtics 104, Raptors 88: Jayson Tatum had 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in Boston’s victory over Toronto. Robert Williams III added 16 points and 13 rebounds, with a careerbest eight coming on the offensive glass. Dennis Schroder scored 20 points, Josh Richardson had 15 and Marcus Smart 13. Scottie Barnes led Toronto with 21 points.
Wizards 97, Cavaliers 94: Kyle Kuzma hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 12 seconds left and Washington scored the final five points to beat Cleveland. Kuzma scored 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, including two 3-pointers in the final 26 seconds. Montrezl Harrell led the Wizards with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
Pistons 112, Rockets 104: Jerami Grant scored a season-high 35 points to help the Detroit Pistons beat the Houston Rockets 112-104 night in a matchup of two of the worst teams in the NBA. Grant shot 12 of 23 from the field, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range. It was a stark contrast to his last game when he went 0 for 9 from the field, missing four 3s, in a 96-90 loss to Brooklyn on Friday night. Detroit improved to 2-8, and Houston dropped to 1-10.