MANILA – Kevin Durant completed his stellar showing with clutch baskets as Brooklyn Nets held off New York Knicks, 110-107, in the 2021-2022 NBA Season on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Down 101-103 with over two minutes left, the Nets got an inside hit from Andre Drummond to tie the score at 103-all before surging ahead at 106-103 with a three-pointer from Durant with 56 seconds left.
The Knicks cut the deficit to a point twice but four free throw conversions by Durant followed by a crucial defensive stop by Nicholas Claxton sealed the victory for the Nets.
Durant finished the match with 53 points, nine assists, six rebounds and two steals, while Drummond chipped in double-double 18 markers and 10 boards as the Nets won their third straight for a 35-33 slate.
Bruce Brown and Claxton chipped in 15 and 10 points, respectively, for the Nets, which were without injured Seth Curry, LaMarcus Aldridge and Joe Harris and unvaccinated Kyrie Irving.
Julius Randle led the way with 26 points, while Evan Fournier and RJ Barrett added 25 and 24 markers, respectively, as the Knicks dropped to 28-40 in the standings.
Meanwhile, Phoenix Suns cruised to a wire-to-wire 140-111 domination over Los Angeles Lakers to stay on top in the Western Conference at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Suns made its presence felt in the opening quarter with a 48-22 score behind a barrage of points by Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton before holding off the Lakers the rest of the way.
Booker finished the match with double-double 30 points and 10 assists, while Ayton also had a double-double of 23 points and 16 rebounds as the Suns improved to 54-17.
Atlanta Hawks, on the other hand, cruised to its 13th victory in the last 15 matches as they defeated Indiana Pacers, 131-128. Trae Young led the way with 47 points, 33 coming in thef first half.
BOX SCORE:
BROOKLYN 110 — Durant 53, Drummond 18, Brown 15, Claxton 10, Dragic 7, Mills 5, Johnson 2, Thomas 0, Griffin 0.
NEW YORK 107 — Randle 26, Fournier 25, Barrett 24, Toppin 8, Robinson 7, Quickley 6, Sims 6, Burks 5, Gibson 0, McBride 0.
Quarterscores: 35-30, 62-60, 88-83, 110-107./PN
