Kevin Durant scored 20 points in his return to the San Francisco Bay Area and Brooklyn’s “Big Three” were firing on all cylinders Saturday night as the Nets opened a Western Conference swing with a 134-117 victory over the host Golden State Warriors.
Kyrie Irving paced the Nets with 23 points, and James Harden complemented a game-high 16 assists with 19 points, helping Brooklyn complete a dominant season-series sweep from the Warriors.
Stephen Curry led all scorers with 27 points but shot just 2-for-9 from 3-point range as the Warriors misfired on 25 of their 34 3-point attempts. Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr. backed Curry with 17 points apiece as the Warriors saw a two-game winning streak end.
In the opener of a five-game trip, the Nets led by 15 at halftime, then busted the game open with a 42-point third quarter during which Irving had nine points and Durant eight while Harden assisted on six buckets and bombed in a pair of 3-pointers.
Indiana Pacers 125 – Atlanta Hawks 113
Aaron Holiday came off the bench to score a season-high 18 points and help visiting Indiana erase a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit and defeat Atlanta.
Holiday was the catalyst of a 31-9 run, scoring 11 of his 16 second-half points in the final 7:23. Indiana’s top scorer was Doug McDermott with 26 points. Myles Turner finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Malcolm Brogdon added 18 points and eight assists. —Field Level Media
Clint Capela had 24 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta, and Danilo Gallinari came off the bench to score 20. John Collins and Cam Reddish each scored 18. Trae Young had 15 points and 14 assists, playing through an injury to his right thumb that required trainers to tape it at halftime.
Utah Jazz 112 – Miami Heat 94
Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points, Bojan Bogdanovic netted 19 and Rudy Gobert finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots as Utah defeated Miami in Salt Lake City for its seventh victory in a row.
Mitchell scored eight points in a decisive third quarter as Utah turned a five-point halftime lead into a 21-point advantage. The Jazz outscored the Heat 31-15 in that period.
Kendrick Nunn topped Miami with 23 points while Jimmy Butler and Max Strus each had 15 points. The Heat had their four-game winning streak snapped on the second stop of their seven-game Western Conference swing.
Phoenix Suns 120 – Philadelphia 76ers 111
Devin Booker scored 36 points to lift host Phoenix past Philadelphia for its fifth straight win.
Chris Paul added 18 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Suns. Dario Saric contributed 15 points while E’Twaun Moore and Deandre Ayton had 11 apiece.
Joel Embiid led Philadelphia with 35 points and eight rebounds while Ben Simmons added 18 points and six rebounds for the Sixers, who have lost two straight.
New York Knicks 121 – Houston Rockets 99
Immanuel Quickley scored 22 points, including three critical second-half 3-pointers, as host New York beat reeling Houston. Quickley, one of six Knicks to score in double figures, shot 7 of 9 from the floor and drilled four 3-pointers.
John Wall finished with a game-high 26 points while Eric Gordon chipped in 24 points for the Rockets, who made only 8 of 43 3-point attempts while shooting 37.5 percent overall. DeMarcus Cousins added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Houston, which played without starters Christian Wood (ankle) and Victor Oladipo (foot).
Julius Randle paired 22 points with nine rebounds for the Knicks, while Derrick Rose scored 16 points and Elfrid Payton added 15.