Without Durant, Nets win again, extend streak to 8
Kyrie Irving had 27 points and nine assists, James Harden scored 20 points and the Nets extended their longest winning streak since moving to Brooklyn to eight games with a 129-92 rout of the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.
The Nets have the longest current winning streak in the NBA and their longest since a franchise recordtying 14-game run late in the 2005-06 season. They moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn in 2012.
This roll has come almost entirely without Kevin Durant, who missed his sixth straight game with a strained left hamstring.
They’re explosive enough with their other two AllStars, improving to 7-2 when Irving and Harden play but Durant doesn’t.
Landry Shamet added 19 points and nine rebounds for the host Nets, who blew open the game with a 26-4 run spanning halftime. The NBA’s highest-scoring team reached 120 points for the 20th time, already tying a franchise record in only 34 games.
76ERS 111, MAVERICKS 97 >> Joel Embiid had 23 points and nine rebounds, Ben Simmons scored 15 points and Philadelphia beat visiting Dallas.
Simmons and Embiid wrecked the Mavericks in the second quarter, and with each steal, dunk and drive showed why they were again selected as All-Stars and have led the Sixers to the best record (22-11) in the Eastern Conference.
Luka Doncic scored 19 points for the Mavericks.
The Sixers could soon have fans inside the Wells Fargo Center and the select few who get to watch will get a live look at perhaps the most dominant duo in the East outside of Brooklyn.
Simmons and Embiid made 8 of 12 shots in the second quarter and combined for 22 points to help the Sixers turn this one into a rout. Simmons backed down Doncic, put a spin move on the big man and hit a pretty one-handed reverse under the bucket and drew a foul. He sank it for a 12-point lead. Simmons later sneaked behind Willie Cauley-Stein and stole the ball, threw a bounce pass just past midcourt and hit a streaking Embiid for a thunderous two-handed dunk.
Simmons continued to make his case as a defensive player of the year and cut off the pick-and roll that limited Doncic to 3-of-9 shooting in the first half. KNICKS 140, KINGS 121 >> Rookie Immanuel Quickley scored 25 points and Alec Burks added 24 off the bench, propelling host New York over Sacramento.
New York’s Julius Randle collected 21 points and 14 rebounds and Derrick Rose made 7 of 11 shots from the floor to finish with 18 points. Rose was inserted into the starting lineup in place of Elfrid Payton, who sat out for the first time this season with an ailing hamstring.
Burks made five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help New York set a seasonhigh point total. The Knicks’ previous best offensive performance came in a 130-110 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 27.
IRVING: CHANGE LOGO TO KOBE >> The Nets’ Irving is leading the charge to compel the NBA to change its shield logo to Kobe Bryant, and he has the backing of the late great’s widow, Vanessa Bryant. In a post to his Instagram page Wednesday, Irving presented an image of Kobe overlayed on the NBA shield, ostensibly his choice to supplant the silhouette image modeled after Jerry West, used as the NBA logo since 1969.
Irving’s caption read: “Gotta Happen, idc what anyone says. BLACK KINGS BUILT THE LEAGUE.”
Vanessa Bryant responded with “love this. @ KyrieIrving.” Also, a change. org petition has garnered 3.2 million signatures since early 2020.
West has supported changing the logo in the past, lifting up Michael Jordan in a 2015 interview. NBA SUSPENDS BEASLEY 12 GAMES >> The NBA suspended Minnesota Timberwolves guard Malik Beasley 12 games without pay for pleading guilty to a felony charge of threatening a family with a rifle. He will begin serving the suspension Saturday when the Timberwolves visit the Washington Wizards.
The incident occurred on Sept. 26, 2020, when a couple and their 13-yearold child stopped in front of Beasley’s home in Plymouth, Minn.
Authorities said the family was on a tour of homes in his neighborhood and they were looking for another house when Beasley came outside, pointed a firearm and told them to leave his property.