Nets rout T-wolves in rescheduled game
MINNEAPOLIS — Kevin Durant scored 31 points on 11-for-15 shooting in his most productive performance in 2½ months, as the Brooklyn Nets blew out the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-97 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. Players from both teams wore black warmup shirts that read, “With liberty and justice for all,” with the last two words in all-caps for extra emphasis.
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.
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 Karlanthony Towns on the one-year anniversary of his mother’s death from
COVID-19 complications. Towns chose to sit out and spend time with family.
Nuggets’ Murray tears left ACL, out indefinitely
The Denver Nuggets will be without Jamal Murray indefinitely after the dynamic point guard suffered a torn ACL in his left knee.
The Nuggets announced the diagnosis in a statement Tuesday. It’s a big blow to a team coming off a season in which it advanced to the Western Conference finals and is hoping to make another deep postseason run.
Murray, averaging 21.2 points per game, was hurt late in a loss at Golden State on Monday night. He drove the lane, tried to elevate off his left foot and fell to the ground, instantly grabbing his knee in pain.
Odds and ends
Former NBA player and Hall of Fame coach Bobby “Slick“Leonard died at 88. Leonard led the Pacers to three ABA championships, and as a player helped Indiana win the 1953 NCAA title. … The Oklahoma City Thunder signed Gabriel Deck to a multi-year contract.