Stars Keivn Durant and James Harden joined forces Friday night in the NBA to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 96-90 road win over the Detroit Pistons.
Durant overflowed with 29 points and 10 rebounds, and Harden added a triple-double of 13 points, 10 sacks and 10 assists as the Nets extended their winning streak to four games.
Durant became the first player in Nets history to score at least 20 points in the first nine games of a season, despite finishing 12 of 27 from the field.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points for Brooklyn (6-3) off the bench, while Harden also had nine turnovers and went 5-0 from the paint.
Harden became the fifth player in NBA history with a ‘triple-double’ with no 2-point baskets, only 3s and free throws, joining Jason Kidd, Delon Wright, Steve Blake and Kirk Hinrich.
For the diminished Pistons (1-8) the best was Cade Cunningham with 17 points, while Kelly Olynyk added 13 points and 10 recovered balls in the rebounding fight.
Both offenses had a lot of trouble in a first half that ended with the teams tied at 39.
Detroit held a slight advantage in shooting percentage (33.3% to 32.5%) but made only 2 of 16 3-point attempts.
Brooklyn scored the first eight points of the third quarter and kept rolling, shooting 78.9% on a 39-point quarter to take a 78-62 lead at the time.
Durant had 12 points in that span, while Blake Griffin added eight cartons for the Nets.
The Pistons came back in the fourth, with five straight points from Cunningham and a triple from Cory Joseph to get within 88-86 with 4:03 to play. Durant missed a shot from range in the fourth, but teammate Griffin gave Harden the rebound. The ball returned to Durant and he hit a layup to put the Nets up 94-89 with 12.9 seconds left.
– Knicks stop Giannis –
In Milwaukee, with 32 points and 12 sacks by Julius Randle, the New York Knicks stopped Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo and beat the Bucks, thus stopping the reigning champions.
The Knicks erased an initial deficit of 21 points and finally beat the Bucks with a score of 113-98.
Derrick Rose had 23 points off the bench and RJ Barrett added 20 as the Knicks stunned the reigning NBA champions.
Antetokounmpo scored 25 points for Milwaukee and Grayson Allen had 22, his season high. The Bucks, who snapped a three-game losing streak Tuesday against Detroit, were dominant on the day from the start.
Allen scored 14 points and four rebounds in the opening period to set the pace for the Bucks, who shot 50% from long range. The Bucks then got a boost with the return of Jrue Holiday, who had missed five straight games with a sprained left ankle. Holiday was not a starter, but entered the game midway through the first quarter.
However, the Knicks, who took two of the three games against the Bucks last season, recovered from a slow start and cut their rival’s lead to five points midway through the second quarter.
The New Yorkers were under 63-56 at the intermission.
Rose lit New York with 10 points off the bench in the second quarter, the team stayed close throughout the third quarter and ultimately tied the game at 80 with 2:14 remaining in that span.
A Barrett layup less than a minute later gave New York an 82-81 lead. Rose then hit a triple to give the Knicks an 85-81 lead. New York led 88-83 after three quarters.
The Knicks controlled the game during the fourth quarter, taking advantage of the frigid shots from the Bucks.(AFP)
– Friday’s NBA results:
Brooklyn to Detroit 96-90
Washington to Memphis 115-87
Cleveland to Toronto 102-101
San Antonio to Orlando 102-89
NY Knicks beat Milwaukee 113-98
LA Clippers at Minnesota 104-84