Durant leads Nets past T’wolves
Kevin Durant scored 31 points on 11for-15 shooting in his most productive performance in 2 ½ months, as the Brooklyn Nets blew out the Minnesota Timberwolves 12797 on Tuesday afternoon.
The game was rescheduled from the previous night, in the aftermath of a fatal police shooting of a Black man in a nearby suburb. The Timberwolves held a moment of silence before tipoff for 20-year-old Daunte Wright, who was killed after a traffic stop.
Durant played 27 minutes in his third game back from a strained left hamstring that kept him out for 23 games. The Nets, missing James Harden, Kyrie Irving and LaMarcus Aldridge, were in command from the jump and ahead by 23 points before the midpoint of the second quarter. They built their lead as big as 45 points early in the fourth quarter.
Joe Harris pitched in 23 points for the Nets, who had 31 assists on 46 made baskets.
Anthony Edwards had 27 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves, who played without Karl-Anthony Towns on the oneyear anniversary of his mother’s death from COVID-19 complications. CLIPPERS 126, PACERS 115 >> Paul George continued to dominate his former team by scoring 36 points, leading Los Angeles past Indiana.
The Clippers have won six straight and 12 of 14 overall.
HAWKS 107, RAPTORS 103
>> Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 23 points, Clint Capela added 19 points and 21 rebounds, and Atlanta beat Toronto for its seventh win in eight games.
Kevin Huerter had 14 of his 17 points in the first half for Atlanta, and Brandon Goodwin added 18 points.
Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 30 points and rookie Malachi Flynn scored 22.
LAKERS 101, HORNETS 93 >> Kyle Kuzma scored 24 points, and Los Angeles held on for a win against a
Charlotte team missing five of its top six scorers.
Dennis Schroder added 19 points and Andre Drummond chipped in with 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who closed out a seven-game road trip with a 4-3 record to remain in fifth place in the Western Conference. JAZZ 106, THUNDER 96 >> Bojan Bogdanovic scored 23 points and Donovan Mitchell added 22 as Utah beat struggling Oklahoma City.
Luguentz Dort scored career-high 42 points and Moses Brown had 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Thunder, who have lost seven in a row and 10 of 11. SUNS 106, HEAT 86 >> Deandre Ayton had 19 points and 13 rebounds and Phoenix got 65 points from their bench on the way to a win over Miami.
Cam Payne banked a layup high off the glass with less than a second left to give the Suns an 83-72 lead heading into the fourth. It was part of a big night for the Suns’ reserves, which was the biggest reason they were able to slowly pull away from the Heat in the second half.