WASHINGTON — Kevin Durant had 28 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and the Brooklyn Nets won easily in their first game following Kyrie Irving’s suspension, 128-86 over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.
Nic Claxton added 18 points for the Nets, who won for only the third time this season despite also being without the injured Ben Simmons and Seth Curry. Brooklyn shot 14 of 28 from 3-point range and 56% from the field overall.
The Nets (3-6) have had a tumultuous week, parting ways with coach Steve Nash on Tuesday and suspending Irving on Thursday. The fallout from Irving’s post of a link to an antisemitic work continued Friday with Nike announcing as the Nets were playing that it has halted its relationship with Irving.
But the team played well without him, holding Washington to 29 points in the second half.
Durant spearheaded a 27-3 run spanning the end of the first half and the start of the second. That gave Brooklyn an 85-60 lead.
His best highlight came earlier, though. Toward the end of the first quarter, Wizards center Daniel Gafford fell to the floor trying to defend Durant on a crossover dribble near the free throw line. Durant made a midrange jumper, and the crowd kept buzzing for a little while after that.
It was 38-28 after one quarter. The Wizards fought back to within one at 58-57, but Brooklyn scored the final 11 points of the second, capped by Durant’s 3-pointer in the final seconds. Then the Nets scored 16 of the first 19 points of the third.
Bradley Beal led Washington with 20 points. Kyle Kuzma scored 19 and Kristaps Porzingis had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
CAVALIERS 112, PISTONS 88: Kevin Love had 21 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds as short-handed Cleveland won in Detroit for its seventh straight win.
Jarrett Allen scored 22 points and Cedi Osman added 15 as the Cavaliers had a 54-21 edge in bench scoring and a 58-24 edge in points in the paint.
The Cavaliers played without guards Darius Garland (knee) and Donovan Mitchell (ankle), who were both injured in an overtime win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.
Cade Cunningham had 19 points for Detroit, but scored only three in the second half. Bojan Bogdanovic, who came into the game leading the Pistons in scoring at 21.8 points, scored six on 2-for-9 shooting.
PACERS 101, HEAT 99: Buddy Hield scored 25 points, Bennedict Mathurin had 23 points and Tyrese Haliburton scored 22 to lead Indiana to a victory over Miami in Indianapolis.
Haliburton added nine points and nine rebounds.
Tyler Herro, who missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left, led the Heat with 29 points. Bam Adebayo scored 18 points and Max Strus added 17 points.
Miami played its second consecutive game without leading scorer Jimmy Butler (hip tightness).
KNICKS 106, 76ERS 104: Obi Toppin hit a 3-pointer and Jalen Brunson finished off a three-point play seconds later as New York rallied from 12 points down to win in Philadelphia.
Brunson finished with 23 points to lead the Knicks. R.J. Barrett scored 22, while Toppin had 13 of his 17 in the fourth quarter as the Knicks snapped a three-game skid.
CLIPPERS 113, SPURS 106: Paul George scored 33 points and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied to win in San Antonio for its third straight victory.
John Wall had 15 points and six assists for the Clippers, who are 5-4 after losing four of their first six games.
Devin Vassell had a career-high 29 points for the Spurs while playing limited minutes following a four-game absence due to a sore left knee. Vassell made his first eight shots, including three 3-pointers, and finished 4 for 5 from long range.
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