LOS ANGELES, United States — The
Brooklyn Nets shook off controversy and
eased to a 128-86 NBA victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday in their
first game since star guard Kyrie Irving was suspended.
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Kevin Durant
came up just shy of a triple double, delivering 28 points, nine rebounds and 11
assists.
Nic Claxton
added 18 points for the Nets, who notched just their third victory of a young
season that has already seen plenty of turmoil.
The Nets sacked
head coach Steve Nash on Tuesday, and suspended Irving for at least five games
on Friday — a week after he sparked a firestorm with a social media post
featuring a link to a film widely condemned as anti-Semitic.
Hours after the
suspension was announced Irving did apologize via Instagram, but the fallout
continued Friday as Nike suspended its relationship with him and cancelled the
upcoming launch of his Kyrie 8 signature shoe.
“Let’s put the
joy back in basketball,” Nets owner Joe Tsai said in a tweet after the victory.
Durant certainly
did all he could in that direction, shining in his hometown of Washington where
the margin of defeat was the largest at home in Wizards history.
Up by 12 at
halftime, the Nets roared out of the gate in the third quarter and out-scored
the Wizards 59-29 in the second half.
“We just
continued to move the basketball all night. Everybody touched it, everybody got
to the paint and was able to generate some good offense,” Durant said.
“That’s how we
want to play moving forward,” added Durant, whose highlights included a wicked
crossover dribble that brought Wizards center Daniel Gaffort to the floor in
the first quarter.
A change of look
didn’t change the fortunes of reigning NBA champions Golden State, who fell
114-105 to the
Pelicans in New Orleans for a fifth straight defeat.
Stephen Curry,
Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green all sat out as Warriors coach
Steve Kerr made good on his assertion that he was “willing to play anybody” in
a bid to turn things around.
Youngsters
Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Anthony Lamb and Ty Jerome kept it close, but
couldn’t get over the hump against a Pelicans team led by Brandon Ingram’s 26
points.
The Los Angeles
Lakers also lost again as Lauri Markkanen scored 27 points to lead the
surprising Utah Jazz to a 130-116 victory.
Jordan Clarkson
added 20 points and Kelly Olynyk scored 18 for the Jazz, who improved to 7-3.
Russell
Westbrook had 28 points and six assists off the bench for Los Angeles, who fell
to 2-6.
LeBron James, who has been battling flu and a sore left foot, had 17
points and 11 rebounds.
Lakers coach
Darvin Ham called the game a “huge step backward”, pointing to lackluster
defense that saw the Jazz score 75 points in the first half.
Meanwhile, the
Milwaukee Bucks kept rolling, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-102 to
improve to 8-0, the best start in franchise history.
Two-time NBA
Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo had his 30th career triple double
with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists and Jrue Holiday scored 29 points
for the Bucks, the only unbeaten team remaining.
Doncic milestone
In Dallas, Luka Doncic scored 35 points as the Mavericks held off the
Toronto Raptors 111-110.
The Serbian star
notched his eighth straight game and joined NBA great Wilt Chamberlain as the
only players to score 30 or more in eight or more straight games to start a
season.
Chamberlain did
it twice — including his run of 23 games with 30 or more to start the 1962-63
season.
The New York
Knicks, Indiana Pacers and Portland
Trail Blazers also pulled out narrow
victories. The Knicks edged the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers 106-104, the
Pacers held off the Miami Heat 101-99 and the Blazers downed the Phoenix Suns
108-106.
Despite the
absence of ailing Joel Embiid and injured James Harden, the Sixers led by 12
early in the fourth quarter but they couldn’t resist the Knicks rally.
Portland’s Jerami Grant
was the hero in
Phoenix, where his season-high 30 points included the
buzzer-beating game winner.
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