Irving returns in Nets victory

LOS ANGELES: The Brooklyn Nets marked Kyrie Irving’s return from an eightgame suspension with a 127-115 victory over Memphis on Sunday (Monday in Manila) as the NBA champion Golden State Warriors finally earned their first road win of the season.

Irving, who was suspended by the Nets after his social media post linking to a movie condemned as anti-semitic sparked a furore, scored 14 points in 26 minutes on the floor.

Kevin Durant led the Nets with 26 and Ben Simmons added 22 as seven Nets players scored in double figures.

That included Japanese reserve Yuta Watanabe, who made four of the Nets’ 16 three-pointers on the way to 16 points.

“It was great to have him get some minutes out there and for us to get a win while he’s doing it,” said Nets coach Jacque Vaughn, who said he expected Irving and the team to be able to focus on basketball going forward.

“At the end of the day, now it’s about hoopin’,” Vaughn said of his message to Irving. “I used that word.

“From this day on that’s what we’re going to be about. Basketball is factual. You get the rebound, that’s a fact. You box out, that’s a fact. You make the shot, that’s a fact.

“So we’re going to make this thing factual. It’s about basketball and we’re going to live in that space.”

In Houston, Warriors sharp-shooter Klay Thompson burst out of his early-season slump with a 41-point performance in Golden State’s 127120 victory over the Rockets.