Irving returns, but new-look Nets beaten by Cavs in 2 OTs
CLEVELAND » Kyrie Irving returned from his personal “pause” to score
37 points in his first game with Kevin Durant and James Harden but the new-look, star-studded Brooklyn Nets gave up 42 to Collin Sexton and lost 147-135 in double overtime to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
Sexton scored 15 points in the second OT — most of them over Irving — for the Cavs, who outplayed the Nets all night. Sexton dropped two
3-pointers and fed Taurean Prince for another in a span of 55 seconds as Cleveland put away Brooklyn.
Durant led Brooklyn with 38 points and Harden added 21. But Brooklyn’s “Big 3” couldn’t do enough to outlast Sexton, who missed Cleveland’s last five games with a sprained ankle.
As he knocked down one big shot after another in the second OT, players on Cleveland’s bench were tackling each other in delight. Cedi Osman added 25 points and Prince — acquired in the four-team deal that brought Harden to Brooklyn — 17 in his Cavs debut.
The Nets overcame a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter and tied it at 113 on Irving’s putback with 1:10 left. Brooklyn had a chance in the closing seconds after Sexton’s turnover, but couldn’t score.
Brooklyn appeared in control in the first OT, but after Durant’s free throws put the Nets up 127-124, Sexton hit a 3-pointer over Irving with
1.2 seconds left.
Irving had missed Brooklyn’s last seven games, leaving on Jan.
7 to address some issues he didn’t specify while speaking with reporters following practice Tuesday. Irving only said he needed time to work through some issues to find balance in his life.
Before the game, Nets first-year coach Steve Nash admitted being “curious” about how his trio of superstars would align on the floor.
“But I’m not in a hurry,” he said, stressing it may take time for Durant, Irving and Harden to figure
things out. “How can we make beautiful basketball together and not worry about the minutiae?” HEAT 111, RAPTORS 102 » Kendrick Nunn scored 28 points and injuryplagued Miami pulled away in the second half for a win over Toronto.
Bam Adebayo had 14 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for Miami, and Kelly Olynyk added 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Despite missing four key players, the Heat (6-7) won their second straight.
HAWKS 123, PISTONS 115 » Trae Young scored 38 points, John Collins had 31 and Atlanta rallied to beat Jerami Grant and Detroit in overtime.
Grant had a career-high 32 points, including all of Detroit’s nine points in overtime, to continue his hot start to the season. It wasn’t enough for the Pistons.
Clint Capela had 27 points and a career-high 26 rebounds for Atlanta (7-7). The Pistons (3-11) have the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
Grant has scored 20 or more points in 13 consecutive games. He opened the season with nine points in a loss at Minnesota.
Grizzlies-Blazers called off
Washington
got back on
the
practice court for the first time in more than a week, and Bradley Beal wonders if the Wizards need more time there before returning to game mode.
The NBA’s leading scorer said he believes the short-handed Wizards — who have six players who have tested positive for COVID-19 — may be following “a recipe for injury” if they play Milwaukee as scheduled Friday night, the latest dilemma for a league that has been sternly tested by the effects of the pandemic over the last two weeks.
Also Wednesday, another game — Memphis at Portland — was postponed, the 16th this season that had to be pushed back because of the virus, and the league revealed that 11 more players in the past week have tested positive for COVID-19. The Wizards had eight bodies for their first practice in nine days, and Beal said he and fellow Washington guard Russell Westbrook may enlist the National Basketball Players Association to help ensure the team is in some semblance of game shape before playing again.
“The health of us is the most important thing, and the safety of us, and that goes far beyond the virus,” Beal said. “It’s our physical health, too . ... ”