DURANT RETURNS IN ROUT
Kevin Durant was perfect. The Brooklyn Nets were pretty close to it in the second quarter when he rejoined them.
Nets 139, Pelicans 111
Durant returned from a 23-game absence to spark Brooklyn’s most explosive half of the season, finishing with 17 points on 5-for-5 shooting in the Nets’ 139-111 rout of the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night in New York.
Durant came off the bench with about 71⁄2 minutes left in the second quarter and by the time the period ended the Nets had 79 points and a 20point lead. Brooklyn was a sizzling 14 for 18 (78 percent) in its 43-point quarter.
“I expected to come out here and play the way I played,” Durant said. “I wasn’t trying to ease into the game.”
Durant added seven rebounds and five assists in 19 minutes in his return from a strained left hamstring. He was originally listed in the starting lineup, but was removed in a revised lineup distributed minutes before his first game since Feb. 13.
Coach Steve Nash said bringing Durant off the bench was so the Nets could more easily control his minutes if the game was close down the stretch.
It wasn’t.
“We got dominated at both ends of the floor. Totally dominated,” Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy said. “We couldn’t get out to the 3-point line. Our defense was absurd. They totally dominated us.”
Durant got an ovation from the first home crowd
he’d played in front of with the Nets. Barclays Center only began allowing limited crowds on Feb. 23.
Zion Williamson had just 16 on 4-for-12 shooting, ending his streak of 25 straight games with 20 points and 50 percent shooting. That tied Shaquille O’Neal for the longest such streak since 1954-55, when the shot clock debuted.
Suns 117, Jazz 113 (OT): Devin Booker scored 35
points and Chris Paul had 29 points and nine assists as host Phoenix prevailed in a battle between the two teams with the best records in the NBA. Donovan Mitchell scored 41 points for Utah, including a 3 late in regulation to tie it.
Nuggets 106, Spurs 96: Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to help host Denver beat San Antonio. Jokic just missed his 13th triple-double of the season. Michael Porter Jr. added 18 points and 10 rebounds in the opener of the two-game set in Denver.
Wizards 131, Magic 116:
Bradley Beal returned from a five-game absence to score 26 points, Russell Westbrook had his 20th triple-double of the season and visiting Washington made a season-best 19 3-pointers to beat Orlando and snap a four-game slide.
Pacers 141, Timberwolves 137: Aaron Holiday scored 22 points, brother Justin Holiday had 21 and Indiana beat visiting Minnesota. Karl Anthony-Towns led NBA-worst Minnesota with 32 points. Anthony Edwards had 27.
Rockets 102, Mavericks 93: John Wall had 31 points and seven assists in his return from injury and host Houston beat Dallas to snap a fivegame skid. Kristaps Porzingis had 23 points and 12 rebounds in his return for Dallas after missing a game with a sprained right wrist.
Celtics 101, Knicks 99:
Jaylen Brown had 32 points and 10 rebounds and host Boston rallied in the fourth quarter to beat New York. Marcus Smart added 17 points, 14 in the fourth quarter, and nine assists for the Celtics.
Grizzlies 131, Hawks 113:
Grayson Allen scored 17 of his season-high 30 points in a dominant third quarter, leading visiting Memphis past short-handed Atlanta. Ja Morant added 14 of his 19 points in the Grizzlies’ decisive third quarter.
Hornets 113, Thunder 102:
Jalen McDaniels had a career-high 21 points in his second career start to help Charlotte beat host Oklahoma City. McDaniels also had six rebounds and three assists.