Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant continues to shine in the NBA, but he is playing through a "little tweak" to his shoulder.
Durant maintained his MVP-calibre start to the season in Sunday's 120-96 rout of former team the Oklahoma City Thunder, scoring 33 points.
Despite the issue, two-time NBA champion Durant has scored at least 20 points in all 14 of his games in 2021-22 – one short of Karl Malone's record (15) set in 1997-98.
After making nine of his 17 shots from the field while collecting eight rebounds and dishing out four assists, Durant said of his shoulder: "It's solid.
"A little sore here and there, but I played, didn't get in the way too much. Keep getting treatment and take it a day at a time."
Nets head coach Steve Nash allayed concerns of Durant's shoulder post-game in Oklahoma.
"He's got a little tweak. But the ball still goes in the hole so I think he's hanging in there," Nash said.
"I don't think it's the type of thing that we expect to get worse so he's kind of playing through it, so it's not terrible."
It was a reunion for Durant, who spent eight seasons in Oklahoma City and was crowned NBA MVP before joining the Warriors in 2016.
Durant – who is 9-4 in games against his former teams – was booed by the crowd throughout the contest.
"You think about the foundation and how you built yourself up as a pro, and this is definitely the spot for me," he said. "It taught me all about what it means to be a pro.
"The people here and the organisation really guided me as a young player. That set the foundation for where I am today. There are a lot of great memories coming back, seeing a lot of people. It's good to see folks here and play in front of the crowd … I had a good time."
It was also a reunion for Nets team-mate James Harden, who started his career with the Thunder prior to moving to the Houston Rockets.
Harden – who finished with 16 points and 13 assists – and Durant were part of the Thunder team that progressed to the 2012 NBA Finals.
"It's crazy how stuff happens," Durant said. "You never thought when James got traded — I didn't know what the future would hold.
"For us to come back around on the same team as we got older is pretty sweet. ... We helped build this thing. It's good to come in here and see what it is today."
The Golden State Warriors had their seven-game winning streak ended by the Charlotte Hornets, who prevailed 106-102 in the NBA on Sunday.
Boasting the league's best record, Golden State (11-2) were upstaged in Charlotte, where Miles Bridges and Terry Rozier helped take down the high-flying Warriors.
Rozier made two key free throws down the stretch while outleaping Draymond Green on a late jump ball as he finished with 20 points – all in the second half – and Bridges had 22 of his own for the Hornets (8-7).
In his annual homecoming to Charlotte, Warriors superstar Stephen Curry put up 24 points and 10 assists, while team-mate Andrew Wiggins scored 28.
The Los Angeles Clippers also had their seven-game streak snapped after falling 100-90 the rampaging Chicago Bulls.
DeMar DeRozan maintained his MVP-calibre play with 35 points and Zach LaVine added 29 to top the Clippers on the road, where Paul George's double-double (27 points and 11 rebounds) was not enough.
Hawks soar thanks to Trae
Trae Young's season-best 42 points fuelled the Atlanta Hawks to a 120-100 win over reigning champions the Milwaukee Bucks. Young also had 10 assists, eight three-pointers and eight rebounds as Atlanta ended their six-game skid. In NBA history, only James Harden (three times), George, Russell Westbrook and Young have managed a performance of 40-plus points, 10-plus assists, eight-plus rebounds and eight-plus threes. Giannis Antetokounmpo returned for the stuttering Bucks, registering 26 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Patty Mills was red hot as the Brooklyn Nets routed the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-96. Mills made nine of his 12 three-pointers for 29 points. He broke the record for the most threes off the bench in franchise history. Kevin Durant top-scored with 33 points as Harden had 16 points and 13 assists.
The Los Angeles Lakers outlasted the San Antonio Spurs 114-106 behind double-doubles from Anthony Davis (34 points and 15 rebounds) and Westbrook (14 points and 11 rebounds).
Blazers routed in Denver
Playing without star Damian Lillard, the Portland Trail Blazers were put to the sword by Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets 124-95. Portland had no answer for Jokic, who narrowly fell short of a triple-double after posting 28 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel lauded Anthony Davis for imposing "his will" as the stuttering NBA franchise returned to winning ways.
After their humbling at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, Davis led the Lakers to a 114-106 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
Davis posted 27 of his game-high 34 points in the opening half, while collecting 15 rebounds and tallying six assists for the championship-chasing Lakers, who continue to be without superstar LeBron James.
Only once previously have the Lakers won the title after making a 7-6 start, improving to 57-25 in 2007-08 to take the top seed in the Western Conference.
Their early struggles prompted Davis to issue a warning regarding their "embarrassing" form following the 107-83 home loss to the Timberwolves.
Vogel hailed 2020 NBA champion Davis after helping the Lakers (8-6) outlast the Spurs (4-9).
"Anthony really imposes his will on this game," Vogel told reporters post-game in Los Angeles.
"I think he, probably more than anyone, was unhappy with how last game unfolded and he was intent to impose his will."
Davis added: "We're starting to get our guys back and we want to make a run. We want to go on a nice little winning streak and be the team that we know that we can be.
"But it starts with our defence. I feel like we had moments where we were like the old Lakers where we mess up and break down our coverages. But for the most part we looked really good."
Russell Westbrook added 14 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, while Talen Horton-Tucker contributed 17 points in his season debut.
"To come out in his first game and do what he did was unreal," Davis said of Horton-Tucker. "I'm impressed.
"His first game and to come in and do what he did to help us win was huge and a sign of his hard work. A lot of guys usually come back and are kind of rusty, but he came in like he had been playing with us this whole time."
Coach J. B. Bickerstaff lauded Evan Mobley's "will to win" after the rookie "stepped up big" in the Cleveland Cavaliers' stunning comeback victory against the Boston Celtics.
The Cavaliers moved to 9-5 with their sixth win in seven games on Saturday, making this their best start to a season since 2016-17 – a year in which LeBron James led the team to the third of four straight NBA Finals visits.
This latest 91-89 triumph was particularly impressive as Cleveland trailed by 19 points when Mobley returned to the game late in the third quarter.
"We keep talking about chemistry and bonding and belief in one another, and that was on full display tonight," said Bickerstaff. "That's the only way you can explain it.
"There's no basketball reason we should have won that game, but there was a collective spirit that refused to allow us to lose that game. That's what we keep talking about brewing in that locker room.
"Don't get me wrong, some guys made critical plays and carried their weight, but it's the spirit of that basketball team, that has that fight in them, that won't give up."
Several of those critical plays belonged to third overall pick Mobley, who finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals in 40 minutes. Of those, 12 points, two blocks and a steal came in the fourth quarter as he played its entirety.
No player in the NBA scored more clutch points than Mobley's six on Saturday, albeit tied with the Celtics' Jayson Tatum – who the Cavs man was asked to stop.
"It's the will to win basketball games," Bickerstaff said of Mobley's best trait. "Literally the only thing that matters to him is: how do I help this team win?
"Not only was it the block, but it's the free throws, it's the baseline jumper, it's the post move to get to the finish. It was an array of different things.
"Then at the end of the game, we had him on Jayson Tatum. We put him on the other team's best player. Whatever it takes to win, he's willing to do it.
"He's not satisfied with these small victories or these small moments. He understands what he wants long-term, and he understands that in order to get there, you've got to do it every night.
"He didn't start out blazing, he was working his way through it in the first half. Then as the game got going, he found his way. And when it was clutch time, he stepped up big."
Mobley has quickly proven a threat from anywhere on the court in his short time in the NBA but is especially effective at the rim, making 70.1 per cent of his attempts.
In fact, 36.8 per cent of his successful field goal attempts have been dunks, with his 32 made dunks ranking joint-third in the NBA. Team-mate Jarrett Allen's 47 lead the way, while no team can rival the Cavaliers' combined 98.
Allen's latest dunk put Cleveland up with 35.9 seconds left against Boston, and Darius Garland said: "It's super fun, just bringing all the crowd into it, the arena gets pumped up. I like seeing it a lot."
Bickerstaff, whose team rank fourth in the league for points in the paint (672), added: "We want to put pressure on the rim, and however we can do that, we'll take it.
"Jarrett is an elite lob threat, and when you put that much pressure on the rim, defenses get concerned. Even if it's only two points, it's an emphatic two points, and defenses don't like that. Then they start to collapse and we've got wide open threes.
"We've got guys who we feel like can dominate the paint – that's our objective: offensively, we want to dominate the paint as much as we can."
Joel Embiid should be back in the lineup soon, but the Philadelphia 76ers need to figure some things out on defence in the meantime.
Philadelphia fell 118-113 to the Indiana Pacers on Saturday after digging a large first-half hole as the 76ers proved unable to stop anyone from scoring.
Indiana shot 67.4 per cent from the floor in the opening half, embarking on a 15-0 run beginning late in the first quarter and leading by as many as 20 before the break.
"Listen, we didn’t deserve to win tonight," Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers told reporters. "They shot 57 per cent from the field, 67 I think at half-time, and we cooled them off a little bit.
"They played harder. They beat us in transition, I think they had 18 transition points in the first half, we cut it in the second half to make the game manageable, but when you’re on the road, and you get down 20 and you dig yourself a hole, it’s hard coming back, it is.
"Give them credit. They were better prepared. They were the better team tonight."
It was the fourth successive loss for the 76ers as Embiid missed his fourth consecutive game after testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday.
Matisse Thybulle also missed his fifth game in a row due to health and safety protocols, and Tyrese Maxey said the void is significant.
"They’re like defensive bail-outs," Maxey said. "When you make a mistake, they’ll cover it up because they’re just special guys. You can go for a gamble, miss it, Matisse will cover it up and get a block.
"Joel’s seven-foot at the rim, you get blown by, he’s blocking it or he’s challenging shots. It’s hard for offensive players to score on them. We’ve got to be collectively more solid without those guys."
In a stretch when the short-handed 76ers cannot afford any letdowns, Maxey also said the team's "competitive nature slipped" in the first half, "and that's one thing we can never let slip".
The Cleveland Cavaliers scored just nine points in the first half and trailed much of the game before rallying to stun the Boston Celtics 91-89 on Saturday.
Cleveland (9-5) trailed by as many as 19 with 3:05 left in the third quarter before roaring back with a 24-4 run to set up a frenzied finish that featured seven ties and five lead changes in the last seven minutes of the game.
Darius Garland led the Cavaliers with 22 points, including two critical free throws with 9.4 seconds left that provided the final margin. He had kept the home team in the game single-handedly earlier in the evening, making 10 of Cleveland's 12 first-half field goals.
One night after dropping 38 points in a home win against the Milwaukee Bucks, Dennis Schroder had a game-high 28 for on Saturday, but he missed a potential game-tying shot at the buzzer.
The Celtics (6-7) were foiled in their attempt to get over .500 for the first time this season but will have a chance to get back to even with a rematch Monday in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers have won six of their last seven games.
Clippers win seventh straight
After a 1-4 start to the season, the Los Angeles Clippers picked up their seventh straight win with a 129-102 defeat of the Minnesota Timberwolves (4-8). The Clippers (8-4) put the game away by half-time, building a 70-43 lead as Reggie Jackson scored 18 of his 21 points before the break. Paul George led all scorers with 23 and Anthony Edwards topped the Timberwolves with 21.
The Washington Wizards (9-3) continued their hot start even without star Bradley Beal, rolling to a 104-92 victory over the Orlando Magic (3-10) behind 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists from Spencer Dinwiddie and 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists off the bench by Montrezl Harrell. Beal missed the game to mourn the death of his grandmother.
The New Orleans Pelicans opened up a lead of as many as 22 points in the first half and held on for a 112-101 defeat of the Memphis Grizzlies (6-7). The victory snapped a nine-game losing streak for the Pelicans (2-14) as they continue to play without Zion Williamson.
Jazz continue to struggle
The Utah Jazz (8-5) lost for the fourth time in five games, falling 111-105 at home against the Miami Heat (8-5). The visitors built a 95-69 lead after three quarters and cruised the rest of the way as Tyler Herro led all scorers with 27 points. Utah made just 35 of 85 shots from the field (41.2 per cent), including 17 of 53 from three-point range (32.1 per cent).
Giannis Antetokounmpo will sit out the Milwaukee Bucks' showdown with the Boston Celtics on Friday.
The Bucks opted to hold out superstar Antetokounmpo in Boston due to an ankle injury, having been listed as probable for the NBA champions.
Antetokounmpo has been averaging 26.6 points, 11.8 rebounds and a career-high 6.0 assists, while shooting 49.6 per cent from the field and 28.6 from three-point range.
The two-time MVP is averaging at least 25.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game for what would be a fourth consecutive season. No player in NBA history has done that four seasons in a row, per Stats Perform.
The Bucks (6-6) have struggled for consistency due to injuries, but are riding a two-game winning streak.
In their last game against the New York Knicks, the Bucks scored 78 of their 112 points via three-pointers (69.6 percent) – the highest percentage by any team in a game in NBA history.
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