NEW YORK – Brooklyn Nets bucked the first half injury of Kevin Durant to defeat New Orleans Pelicans, 120-105, in the 2021-2022 NBA Season on Saturday night (Sunday in the Philippines) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Durant exited midway in the second quarter after sustaining a left knee sprain from an accidental hit by teammate Bruce Brown. He finished the game with 12 points, three rebounds and two assists.
James Harden spearheaded with near triple-double 27 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, while Patrick Mills and rookie Cameron Thomas added 21 and 20 points, respectively, for the Nets.
Kessler Edwards connected four triples and finished with 16 markers, while DayRon Sharpe had double-double 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Nets moved up to 27-15 slate.
The Nets were blazing since the start behind early offense from Durant, Harden and Thomas for a 32-22 edge. It grew further to 69-41 at the half with consecutive points from Edwards in the second canto.
The Pelicans made a run early in third period as they trimmed the deficit to 65-80 but the Nets pulled away behind Harden, Mills and Thomas as the lead reached its largest at 111-85.
Brandon Ingram led the way with 22 points, Josh Hart had double-double 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Jonas Valaciunas and Herbert Jones had 13 each for the Pelicans (16-27).
Meanwhile, Robert Williams came up with clutch free throws as Boston Celtics (22-22) scored a come-from-behind 114-112 beating of Chicago Bulls (27-14) at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Down 106-112, the Celtics went on an 8-0 scoring run via a basket each from Dennis Schroder and Jayson Tatum and four free throws by Williams to snatch the lead at 114-112 with nine seconds left.
The Eastern Conference-leading Bulls had its last opportunity to force an overtime but DeMar DeRozan misfired on his shot as they suffered their third consecutive loss.
Tatum led the Celtics with double-double 23 points and 12 rebounds, Jaylen Brown added 19 markers, as Williams just fell short of a triple-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.
BOX SCORE:
BROOKLYN 120 — Harden 27, Mills 21, Thomas 20, Edwards 16, Durant 12, Sharpe 12, Griffin 6, Brown 4, Carter 2, Bembry 0, Duke 0.
NEW ORLEANS 105 — Ingram 22, Hart 14, Jones 13, Valaciunas 13, Hayes 11, Graham 10, Alexander-Walker 10, Alvarado 7, Temple 3, Marshall 2, Clark 0, Murphy 0.
Quarterscores: 32-22, 69-41, 95-77, 120-105./PN
