Kevin Durant on Sunday scored 33 points in his return from a three-game injury absence as the Brooklyn Nets solidified their hold on first place in the NBA Eastern Conference with a 128-119 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Durant came off the bench early in the second quarter and showed little rust after being out with a thigh injury. In 28 minutes of playing time, Durant shot 12 of 21 from the floor in a clash between two of the best teams in the NBA.
“It was a good start. Hopefully, I’ll build on this game and keep going,” Durant said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Kyrie Irving scored a team-high 34 points, going 30-plus for the 15th time this season, while Blake Griffin finished with 16 points for Brooklyn, who improved to 41-20 for a one-and-a-half-game lead over second-placed the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference standings.
Jeff Green and Joe Harris scored 10 points each for the Nets, while DeAndre Jordan had 12 rebounds in front of the pandemic-limited crowd of 1,700 at the Barclays Center.
Devin Booker scored 36 points for Phoenix, while Deandre Ayton scored 20 points with 13 rebounds, as the Suns lost two straight for the first time since late January.
“I thought we started off pretty well. They just continued to make shots,” Booker said. “I think we had a lot of miscommunication on a lot of our switches and that’s that.”
Torrey Craig tallied 20 points, while point guard Chris Paul was held to just 14 points on five of 11 shooting.
Phoenix, second in the West behind the Utah Jazz, dropped to 42-18 and are now 2-2 on a five-game East coast road trip, with another contest yesterday against the red-hot New York Knicks, who have won nine straight.
Brooklyn, who were without injured James Harden for the 10th consecutive game, outscored the Suns 31-27 in the final quarter, after trailing by as many as 13 in the second period.
The Nets have won six of 10 games with Harden out of the lineup.
Brooklyn led by just five, 97-92, at the end of the third quarter, but a three-pointer by Durant stretched the lead to 102-92 early in the fourth quarter — and they held off Phoenix the rest of the way.
Durant scored 10 points in the third quarter, then had the first five of the fourth to give Brooklyn their first double-digit lead at 102-92.
“The thing I love the most is that we all know that one of my favorite things about him is how much he just loves to play basketball,” Griffin said. “So you know when he’s sitting out, it’s just like killing him — so just to see that joy of just being able to play basketball again is fun for us.”
Also on Sunday, it was:
‧ Hawks 111, Bucks 104
‧ Hornets 125, Celtics 104
‧ Warriors 117, Kings 113
‧ Grizzlies 120, Trail Blazers 113
‧ Wizards 119, Cavaliers 110
‧ Pacers 131, Magic 112
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