NBA: Short-handed Nets snap 76ers' win streak

Joe Harris scored a team high 28 points as the short-handed Brooklyn Nets snapped the Philadelphia 76ers' five-game NBA winning streak with a 122-109 victory on Thursday.

Caris LeVert scored 22 points and had 10 assists as the Nets cooled off the NBA's hottest team despite missing their two top players Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

"We are a totally different team when those guys are out here," guard LeVert said, "but I think we've done a great job of having a next-man-up mentality, guys stepping into those roles and fulfilling what we need as a team.:

Durant sat out due to Covid-19 protocols and Irving missed the game due to "personal reasons".

Nets coach Steve Nash said before the contest that Irving's absence came as a surprise to him and he remained unsure of the exact issue.

"I sent him a message in the last half-hour and haven't heard back yet," Nash said. "But obviously thinking about him and hope that all is well. It's a private matter."

Nash did say that Durant, who had to quarantine after possible Covid-19 exposure, could return on Sunday.

In the meantime, Harris got the job done, finishing two points shy of his career high as the Nets posted their second straight double-digit win after dropping four of five. 

LeVert, who started in place of Irving, made the most of his opportunity. He scored 18 points by halftime as the Nets shot 45.4 percent and scored 35 points off 20 Philadelphia turnovers. 

"When we play connected and we have that fighting spirit, we give ourselves a great chance every night no matter who's available," Nash said.

Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons had quiet nights for the 76ers. Embiid scored 20 points on seven-of-14 shooting while Simmons had just 11 points. 

Shake Milton started in place of injured Seth Curry and led the Sixers with 24 points and seven assists. 

Curry, who made the trip with the team, was reported after the game to have returned a positive test for coronavirus, forcing the Sixers to remain overnight in New York so they can conduct further testing to see if the virus has spread to any of the other players.

Elsewhere, Damian Lillard delivered 39 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as the Portland Trail Blazers breezed past the slumping Minnesota Timberwolves 135-117.

C.J. McCollum tallied 20 points and Jusuf Nurkic finished with 17 points and seven rebounds for Portland, who snapped a two-game skid and posted its highest-scoring effort of the season. 

D'Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards scored 26 points apiece for the Timberwolves. 

Naz Reid chipped in 13 points in 16 minutes as Minnesota dropped its sixth straight game. 

The Trail Blazers set a franchise record with 47 points in the second quarter. The team's previous high for second-quarter points was 45, achieved twice, first in 1973 and then again in 2014. 

In Memphis, Andre Drummond posted game-highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds, Larry Nance Jr. added 18 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the host Memphis Grizzlies 94-90.

Jonas Valanciunas finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Memphis, which dropped its third straight. Brandon Clarke added 14 points and nine rebounds, Dillon Brooks tallied 11 points and Kyle Anderson scored 10.

Just before tipoff, both teams knelt at the sidelines in response to Wednesday's riots by a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters on Capitol Hill which resulted in five deaths, including one police officer who succumbed to his injuries on Thursday night.

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Nets edge Blazers despite Lillard's 60-point night

Damian Lillard became the first NBA player this season to score 60 points, but it wasn't enough as Joe Harris ignited a late run that propelled the visiting Brooklyn Nets to a 119-115 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.

Lillard drilled a running 34-footer at the final horn, allowing him to surpass his previous career high of 59 points set in April 2017 against the Utah Jazz.

There were three 60-point games in the NBA last season. Houston Rockets guard James Harden had a pair of 61-pointers, while guard Kemba Walker, then of the Charlotte Hornets, went for 60.

Lillard finished 19-for-33 from the field, 7-for-16 on 3-point tries and 15-for-15 from the free-throw line.

The one-man show wasn't enough to overcome 10 combined 3-pointers from Spencer Dinwiddie and Kyrie Irving. Dinwiddie led Brooklyn with 34 points off the bench, and Irving added 33 points.

The Nets outscored the Trail Blazers 48-33 from beyond the arc.

Brooklyn led for most of the first 40 minutes, including by 10 in the second quarter, before a pair of Lillard hoops put Portland on top 99-98 with 7:31 remaining.

The Nets' deficit was 103-98 with 5:45 to go before Dinwiddie scored from the interior and Harris drilled his back-to-back threes, producing a 106-103 lead.

Brooklyn never trailed again, completing a 17-2 run with a 3-pointer by Irving with 1:41 to go that created a 10-point margin at 115-105.

Lillard scored seven straight Portland points to get the host as close as 115-112 with 40.4 seconds to go, but Irving countered with a 9-footer with 17.8 seconds left to clinch it.

Dinwiddie's team-high point total came on 11-for-18 shooting overall and 6-for-10 accuracy from 3-point range.

Irving shot 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and found time for a game-high 6 assists.

Harris finished with 14 points for the Nets, who were opening a 9-day, 5-game trip, while Jarrett Allen had 10 points to complement a team-high 9 rebounds.

Anfernee Simons added 15 points for Portland, which lost its fourth straight, while Hassan Whiteside contributed 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBA: Nets' Harris knocks off Warriors' Curry in 3-point contest

CHARLOTTE -- Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Harris defeated Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry in the 3-Point Contest on All-Star Saturday Night at Spectrum Center.

Harris made nine in a row on the second and third racks and again mopped up on the moneyball rack with all five going in for a 26-point round. He reached the finals with 25 points in the opening round.

Curry, who made the three-man finals along with Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield, fell short despite making nine of his first 10 to open the championship round. He finished with 24 points in the finals.

Harris said, "Just fortunate to be here, we were talking about it coming in, some of the best shooters of all-time."

He added that he gained an edge by starting the event as the first shooter.

"I actually thought it'd be an advantage," Harris said.

Hield went 4 of 5 on each of the final two racks and totaled 19 in the finals.

Curry brought the crowd to its feet with 27 first-round points, draining all five of his final tries on the moneyball rack and 10 straight.

Each shooter had five racks of five basketballs, one in each corner, one on each wing and one at the top of the key. Four of the racks have a moneyball, worth two points, and one rack is positioned at the shooter's preferred location -- with five moneyballs. That rack has a potential value of 10 points.

Curry was the second-to-last shooter in the opening round, before defending champion Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns finished with 23 to bow out, sending Curry, Hield and Harris to the finals.

Hield claimed the early first-round lead with 26 points with four made moneyballs on his final rack.

Harris set the bar high out of the gate to open the shooting. He drained all five of his shots on his final rack and made nine of his final 10 to rack up 25 points in the first round.

Toronto Raptors guard Danny Green nearly put himself in the finals with 23 points.

Seth Curry put up 16 points, sparked by a streak of four splashes in a row on his second rack, before Portland Blazers teammate Damian Lillard was credited with 17 points. Lillard was dropped from the leaderboard by Green.

"It's like a dream come true coming out here," said Seth Curry, a Charlotte native who is Stephen Curry's brother. "I dreamed of being in the 3-Point Contest ... and putting on a show."

Hometown favorite Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets had 15 points, getting three of his five from the moneyball rack to go down. Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, a former 3-point champion, ran out of gas and had 17 points.

After making his first three attempts, Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton had 11 points.

--By Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media

source: news.abs-cbn.com