[ad_1]
Kevin Durant # 7 of the Brooklyn Nets dunks as Kelly Oubre Jr. # 12 and Eric Paschall # 7 of the Golden State Warriors defend during the first half at the Barclays Center on December 22, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of the city of NY. Sarah Stier / Getty Images / AFP
Kevin Durant’s long-awaited debut with the Brooklyn Nets did not disappoint on Tuesday, as the two-time MVP of the NBA Finals teamed seamlessly with Kyrie Irving in a 125-99 rout of the Golden State Warriors.
Durant had not played since he suffered a devastating tear to his Achilles tendon playing for the Warriors against Toronto in Game 5 of the championship series on June 10, 2019.
He was still recovering from surgery when he pitched to the Nets as a free agent and was out of the entire 2019-20 season interrupted by the pandemic.
Irving scored 26 points with four rebounds and four assists. Durant added 22 points with five rebounds and three assists and all the Nets starters missed the fourth quarter with the game well controlled.
“It felt good,” Durant said. “I did not approach it differently. In the preseason games I felt the same energy, but it’s good to get a win. “
The victory also gave two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash a victory in his first game as head coach.
Canada’s Nash was a surprise pick for the Nets job after five years as the Warriors’ player development coordinator.
The contest at Barclays Center in Brooklyn was the first of two on Tuesday.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, who closed their 17th title with a victory over the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals just over two months ago, kicked off at the Staples Center against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Shorter season
It’s the start of a shortened 72-game season, 10 fewer than usual for each team.
With Covid-19 still rampant in the United States, the NBA had yet to complete matches for the second half of the campaign, allowing flexibility in the event of postponements and cancellations.
“When you play outside of a bubble, it is almost impossible to avoid this virus,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged Tuesday.
However, he was hopeful that a vigorous testing program would allow the league to detect those infected in time to separate them from their teammates and prevent major outbreaks.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point we had to postpone or reschedule games,” Silver said. “I believe in the protocols that we have, but I think that until we see what the pace of the season is we are not going to know how effective it is.”
The Warriors, who struggled last season and were not among the teams to resume play in the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando, were playing their first game since March.
Stephen Curry, who played just five games last season before suffering a broken hand, scored 20 points on seven of 27 shots.
James Wiseman, the second overall pick in the draft last month, started at center, despite missing the Warriors’ three preseason games after testing positive for coronavirus before training camp.
The towering 19-year-old rookie threw a two-handed dunk in the opening moments and finished with 19 points and six rebounds.
But with Draymond Green absent with a foot injury, the Warriors offered little resistance early on. They fell behind by as much as 21 in the first quarter, a deficit that increased to 38 in the fourth quarter.
Read next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download from 4am and share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For comments, complaints or inquiries, please contact us.
[ad_2]
