Durant back with Nets, can return Saturday to Golden State
Kevin Durant is back on the court, just in time to go back to the Bay Area.
Dur a n t r e j o i n e d t h e Brooklyn Nets on Friday, a day ahead of his return to the place where Stephen Curry said the Warriors played “some of the best basketball l think the world has ever seen” when Durant was one of them.
Now in his first season playing for the Nets, Durant is set to resume what's been a stop-and-start season for the star forward.
He has missed t hree games f or coronavirus health and safety protocol reasons, facing a mandatory seven-day quarantine after being a close contact of a team employee who tested positive for the virus.
Golden State's players were certainly planning on him to play. The trouble started in a bizarre and frustrating night for Durant and the Nets against Toronto last Friday. Durant was told he couldn't start the game shortly before tipoff, then was cleared to enter in the first quarter, resulting in his first appearance off the bench in his 867-game career.
He was then pulled for good in the third quarter, throwing a water bottle in frustration before the Nets went on to lose the game.
Durant continued to test negative during his absence and was able to return to practice Friday. The Nets left later for San Francisco, where they would start a five-game trip Saturday.
He spent three seasons with the Warriors, winning NBA titles in the first two. Golden State went 16-1 in the 2017 postseason and repeated the next year, with Durant winning NBA Finals MVP awards in both. IGNITE 109, BLUE 103: Top draft prospects Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green combined to score 45 points to lead the Ignite over Oklahoma City Friday afternoon. OKC's Chasson Randle scored 22 points, and Moses Brown added 20 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
Late Thursday
BLAZERS 118, SIXERS 114:
Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 24 points off the bench, including 16 in the fourth quarter, and Portland beat Philadelphia on Thursday night. Damian Lillard had 30 points in Portland's fourth win in five games.
WARRIORS 111, MAGIC 105:
Stephen Curry knocked down 10 3-pointers on the way to 40 points and also contributed eight rebounds and five assists, leading Golden State past undermanned Orlando on Thursday night. Curry finished 10 for 19 from deep — even having one taken away by a replay review after the third quarter. The two-time MVP has made at least four 3-pointers in a career-best 13 straight games. HEAT 101, ROCKETS 94:
Jimmy Butler had a tripledouble with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and Miami overcame a slow start to beat slumping Houston on Thursday night. Miami won its fourth straight and handed Houston its fourth loss in a row. The winning streak comes after the Heat lost seven of their previous eight. PACERS 111, PISTONS 95:
Domantas Sabonis had 26 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Indiana snapped a four-game losing streak with a victory over Detroit on Thursday night. Malcolm Brogdon added 18 points and Jeremy Lamb scored 17 for the Pacers, who posted a season-low 94 points in a loss to Brooklyn on Wednesday. CELTICS 120, RAPTORS 106: Semi Ojeleye had a career-high 24 points and six 3-pointers, and Boston rolled to a win over Toronto on Thursday night. Rookie Payton Pritchard added 20 points and had a career-high six 3s to help Boston snap a two-game skid.