Irving, Durant lead Nets past Suns

Kyrie Irving had 34 points with 12 assists, while Kevin Durant scored 33 points after a brief time away as the Brooklyn Nets earned a 128-119 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns in a showdown between two of the top teams in the NBA on Sunday, April 25 (Monday, April 26, Manila time).

Blake Griffin scored 16 points as the Nets backed up their standing as the top team in the Eastern Conference.

Devin Booker scored 36 points, while Deandre Ayton scored 20 points with 13 rebound for the Suns, who dropped consecutive games for the first time since late January.

Phoenix, which entered as the No. 2 team in the Western Conference, is now 2-2 on a five-game East Coast trip, with a final game at the New York Knicks on Monday.

Durant, who entered as a substitute with 8 minutes remaining in the first half, showed little rust after missing the last 3 games with a thigh contusion. He was 12-of-21 from the field in 28 minutes of action.

After trailing by as many as 13 points in the 2nd quarter, the Nets entered the 4th period with a slim 97-92 lead. They pushed it to 102-92 less than a minute into the 4th quarter on a shot inside and a three-pointer from Durant, who set the tone for the final 12 minutes.

The Nets outscored the Suns 31-27 in the 4th quarter.

Brooklyn pushed the advantage to 109-95 with just over 8 minutes remaining after a tip-in by Jeff Green and held off the Suns from there.

Green and Joe Harris scored 10 points each for the Nets, while DeAndre Jordan had 12 rebounds. Irving, who was 5-of-7 from three-point range, reached 30 points for the 15th time this season.

The Nets won the season series 2-0 over the Suns, with Durant and Irving not on the court for their 128-124 victory at Phoenix on February 16.

Brooklyn, which shot 13-of-28 (46% percent) from three-point range, won without James Harden, who missed his 10th consecutive game with a hamstring injury. Brooklyn is now 6-4 over those 10 games.

Torrey Craig had 20 points off the bench for the Suns, while veteran point guard Chris Paul was held to 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting with 8 assists. – Rappler.com