Irving leads rout in Boston return
Kyrie Irving circled the Boston Garden parquet floor performing an apparent spiritual ritual by waving a burning substance in his hands before tipoff, then proceeded to torch his former team.
After receiving hugs and highfives at midcourt before tipoff from former teammates Tristan Thompson, Marcus Smart and others, Irving got down to business and handed out some punishment to the Boston Celtics. He scored 17 points on 7-for-15 shooting and had seven rebounds, five assists and two steals helping the Brooklyn Nets rout the Celtics 113-89 on Friday night in the final preseason game for both teams.
Kevin Durant was 9-for-16 from the floor and scored 25 points and Caris Levert had 18 as the Nets jumped out to a 62-44 halftime lead and didn’t look back. Jarrett Allen had nine points and 11 rebounds.
Jayson Tatum had 19 points and Jaylen Brown added 16 but the Celtics couldn’t get much of a contribution with from anyone else and continued to struggle without injured point guard Kemba Walker on the court. Knicks 119, Cavaliers 83: Immanuel Quickley scored 22 points and Kevin Knox knocked down 6 of 7 3-pointers and finished with 20 points as the Knicks routed the Cavaliers. New York shot 51.7 percnt from 3-point range to run away early. Quickly and Reggie Bullock combined to hit 6 of 9 3-point attempts in the win.
Heat 117, Raptors 105: In Tampa, Fla., the Raptors made their debut in their temporary home, but KZ Okpala scored 24 points and Max Strus added 22 as the Heat pulled away in the second half to win.
76ers 113, Pacers 107: At Indianapolis, the 76ers got 15 points and five assists from Shake Milton and defeated the Pacers without Joel Embiid. Ben Simmons chipped in with nine points and eight assists.
Bulls 105, Thunder 103: At Oklahoma City, Lauri Markkanen had 22 points and Zach Levine added 20 and the Bulls outscored the Thunder 34-13 in the fourth quarter.