Durant Invades Brooklyn
Barkley Steps In With Pacquiao
NEW YORK — First Kobe. Then LeBron. Don’t forget Carmelo. Now, here comes Kevin. Seems like the Nets (11-5) have witnessed a parade of scorers lately and tonight won’t be any different with Kevin Durant leading the Oklahoma City Thunder (14-4) into Barclays Center. Durant is averaging a league-best 27.3 points and Gerald Wallace knows there’s only so much you can do.
Still, the Nets’ swingman, who should see some time guarding Durant, relishes the challenge.
“It’s perfect because you know you want to make the guys work,” Wallace said Monday. “You don’t want them to come out and let them have an easy night where they can just go off and everything seems easy for them. I’m not expecting to go out there and stop them from scoring 30, 40 points.
“When I look up at the scoreboard and he has 30 or 40 points, I want him to feel like he’s working for those 30 or 40 points. You have to earn those 30 or 40 points.”
Not to mention attacking him when the Nets have the ball.
“A lot of the top scorers, they go rest on the defensive end,” Wallace said, “and spend all their energy on the offensive end. So our main thing is making him play both ends of the court.”
HEAVYWEIGHT: Manny Pacquiao did some training with a heavyweight for his next bout: Charles Barkley.
Barkley and fellow NBA Hall of Famer Reggie Miller visited the boxing megastar in camp in Los Angeles before his fourth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, the subject of a 30-minute special that will air Thursday on TNT.
CLIPPERS 105, JAZZ 104: In Salt Lake City, Blake Griffin scored 30 points and Los Angeles handed Utah its first loss at home this season.
NUGGETS 113, RAPTORS 110: In Denver, Corey Brewer scored 19 points and the Nuggets withstood a late rally.
PISTONS 89, CAVS 79: In Auburn Hills, Mich., Brandon Knight scored 17 points to lead Detroit.
BLAZERS 118, BOBCATS 112 (OT): In Charlotte, N.C., LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 13 rebounds for Portland.
HORNETS 102, BUCKS 81: In New Orleans, Ryan Anderson scored 22 points and New Orleans won for only the second time in 11 games.