Joe Harris on Thursday scored a team-high 28 points as the Brooklyn Nets shook off the absence of two stars to snap the Philadelphia 76ers’ five-game winning streak with a 122-109 victory.
Caris LeVert scored 22 points and had 10 assists as the Nets cooled off the NBA’s hottest team, despite missing their two top players, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
“We are a totally different team when those guys are out here, but I think we’ve done a great job of having a next-man-up mentality, guys stepping into those roles and fulfilling what we need as a team,” Nets guard LeVert said.
Photo: AP
Durant sat out due to COVID-19 protocols and Irving missed the game due to “personal reasons.”
Nets coach Steve Nash said before the contest that Irving’s absence came as a surprise to him and he remained unsure of the exact issue.
“I sent him a message in the last half-hour and haven’t heard back yet, but obviously thinking about him and hope that all is well,” Nash said. “It’s a private matter.”
Nash did say that Durant, who had to quarantine after possible COVID-19 exposure, could be ready to return tomorrow.
In the meantime, Harris got the job done, finishing two points shy of his career high as the Nets posted their second straight double-digit win after dropping four of five.
LeVert, who started in place of Irving, made the most of his opportunity. He scored 18 points by halftime as the Nets shot 45.4 percent and scored 35 points off 20 Philadelphia turnovers.
“When we play connected and we have that fighting spirit, we give ourselves a great chance every night, no matter who’s available,” Nash said.
Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons had quiet nights for the 76ers.
Embiid scored 20 points on seven-of-14 shooting, while Simmons had just 11 points.
Shake Milton started in place of injured Seth Curry and led the Sixers with 24 points and seven assists.
Curry, who made the trip with the team, was reported after the game to have returned a positive COVID-19 test, forcing the Sixers to remain overnight in New York so they ccould conduct further testing to see if the coronavirus had spread to any of the other players.
Elsewhere, Damian Lillard delivered 39 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as the Portland Trail Blazers breezed past the slumping Minnesota Timberwolves 135-117.
C.J. McCollum tallied 20 points and Jusuf Nurkic finished with 17 and seven rebounds for Portland, who snapped a two-game skid and posted their highest-scoring effort of the season.
Naz Reid chipped in 13 points in 16 minutes as Minnesota dropped their sixth straight game.
The Trail Blazers set a franchise record with 47 points in the second quarter. The team’s previous high for second-quarter points was 45, achieved twice, first in 1973 and then again in 2014.
In Memphis, Tennessee, Andre Drummond posted game-highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Larry Nance Jr added 18 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 94-90.
In Los Angeles, LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs past the Los Angeles Lakers 118-109, while in Denver, Colorado, Luka Doncic had 38 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks downed the Denver Nuggets 124-117 in overtime.
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Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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