basketball
MINNEAPOLIS, April 14, (AP): The show in Minnesota went on, the day after raw emotion from a fatal police shooting of a local Black man was too strong to play.
Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets made quick work of the Timberwolves, even if focus was harder to come by than usual.
Durant scored 31 points on 11-for15 shooting in his most productive performance in 2-1/2 months, as the Brooklyn Nets blew out the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-97 on Tuesday afternoon.
The game was rescheduled from the previous night, out of sensitivity to the community following the traffic-stop death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. 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, and a moment of silence was held before tip-off.
Anthony Edwards had 27 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves, who played without Karl-Anthony
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Towns on the one-year anniversary of his mother’s death from COVID-19 complications. Towns chose to sit out and spend the time with his family.
Joe Harris pitched in 23 points for the Nets, who had 31 assists on 46 made baskets. Missing James Harden (strained hamstring), Kyrie Irving (personal reasons) and LaMarcus Aldridge (non-COVID-19 illness), the Nets 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.
With Harden, Irving and Aldridge all out, Nash put Chris Chiozza and Nicolas Claxton in the starting lineup for the first time, the 17th and 18th different players to appear in the first five for the Nets in just 54 games this season. They have used 32 different combinations.
Clippers 126 ,Pacers115
In Indianapolis, Paul George Continued to dominate his former team by scoring 36 points on Tuesday night, leading the Los Angeles Clippers to a 126-115 victory at Indiana.
The Clippers have won six straight and 12 of 14 overall.
George also had seven rebounds and eight assists while improving to 4-0 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse since being traded by the Pacers to Oklahoma City in July 2017. He has topped the 30-point mark in each of the Clippers’ last four games, the last two without
All-Star teammate Kawhi Leonard, who sat out with a sore right foot.
Indiana was led by Malcolm Brogdon’s 29 points. Caris LeVert scored 26 as the Pacers snapped a three-game losing streak.
It sure didn’t look as if the game would be lopsided after a topsy-turvy first half, which included a 15-point first quarter from George amid a chorus of boos as the Clippers led 67-65. And Los Angeles still was clinging to a 100-97 cushion after an equally entertaining third quarter.
But George made two of the first three baskets in the fourth quarter to spur 8-0 run and Indiana never recovered. Eventually, the Clippers pulled away.
Lakers 101, Hornets 93
In Charlotte, NC, Kyle Kuzma scored 24 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers held on for a 101-93 win against a Charlotte Hornets 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.
Devonte Graham led the Hornets with 19 points. Caleb Martin had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lakers held the Hornets to 43.4% shooting overall and 25.7% from 3-point range.
The game was largely a battle of backups, with the Hornets missing four starters due to injury and the Lakers three.
Charlotte was missing more than 72% of its scoring with Terry Rozier and P.J. Washington joining LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward and Malik Monk on the bench. The Lakers, who are still without All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, were missing Markieff Morris due to a sprained left ankle.
Jazz 106, Thunder 96
In Salt Lake City, Bojan Bogdanovic scored 23 points and Donovan Mitchell added 22 as the Utah Jazz beat the struggling Oklahoma City Thunder 106-96 .
Bogdanovic, who scored a seasonhigh 33 points in his last game, left his familiar spot on the perimeter and repeatedly took the ball to the basket. He finished with a season-high 10-for-10 shooting from the free throw line.
In pain, Bogdanovic held his right wrist after getting knocked to the floor in the third quarter. Surgery on that wrist ended his season before the bubble last season. But, Bogdanovic kept playing and was a key to Utah’s 66-38 scoring advantage in the second and third quarters.
Suns 106, Heat 86
In Phoenix, Deandre Ayton had 19 points and 13 rebounds and the Phoenix Suns got 65 points from their bench on the way to a 106-86 victory over the Miami Heat.
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.
Four bench players scored in double figures, including Cam Johnson (15 points), Payne (14), Torrey Craig (14) and Dario Saric (13). That offset a fairly quiet night for the Suns’ All-Star backcourt of Devin Booker and Chris Paul.
Celtics 116, Trail Blazers 115
In Portland, Ore, Jayson Tatum scored 32 points, including a key 3-pointer in the final moments, and the Boston Celtics held off the Portland Trail Blazers 116-115 to extend their winning streak to four straight games.
Jaylen Brown added 24 points and Kemba Walker had 21 for Boston, winners of six of their last seven games.
Damian Lillard had 28 points and 10 assists, and Carmelo Anthony had 25 points off the bench for Portland.
Hawks 107, Raptors 103
In Tampa, Fla, Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 23 points, Clint Capela added 19 points and 21 rebounds, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Toronto Raptors 107-103 for their 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.