Kevin Durant leads Nets over Raptors for fifth straight win
Kevin Durant #7 of the Brooklyn Nets puts up a shot over Scottie Barnes #4 of the Toronto Raptors during the first half of their NBA game at Scotiabank Arena on November 7, 2021 in Toronto, Canada. Cole Burston/Getty Images/AFP
Kevin Durant had 31 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and the visiting Brooklyn Nets defeated the Toronto Raptors 116-103 Sunday afternoon.
It was Durant’s 10th straight game with 20 or more points as the Nets won their fifth in a row, including the first two of a six-game road trip.
James Harden added 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Nets. Blake Griffin had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Patty Mills scored 13 points off the bench while Bruce Brown contributed 12 points.
KD: 31 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST
Harden: 28 PTS, 10 REB, 8 AST@KDTrey5 and @JHarden13 put on a show to lead the @BrooklynNets to their fifth-straight win 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Is8cvNTnLK— NBA (@NBA) November 7, 2021
Fred VanVleet had 21 points and eight assists for the Raptors, who have lost two in a row. OG Anunoby added 16 points, Pascal Siakam had 15, Gary Trent Jr. had 14 and Precious Achiuwa scored 13 points.
Siakam, playing his first game of the season after recovering from shoulder surgery, played 25 minutes.
Brooklyn outscored Toronto 35-17 in the third quarter to take an 11-point lead into the fourth. The Raptors cut the margin to seven before Mills scored six straight points.
VanVleet’s 3-pointer trimmed the lead to seven with 4:52 left in the fourth quarter, but the Nets went ahead by 12 on Durant’s jumper with 3:59 to play. Harden followed with a 3-pointer to bump the lead to 15. The Raptors answered with a 7-0 run, but couldn’t make up the rest of the margin.
Brooklyn led 29-26 after one quarter.
Toronto took a 43-42 lead when Achiuwa made a 3-pointer with 5:33 to play in the second quarter. The lead reached five when Anunoby capped a 7-0 run with a layup.
A dunk by Scottie Barnes after he stripped the ball from Durant put the Raptors ahead by seven points with 29.9 seconds left in the quarter. Toronto led 60-53 at halftime.
Griffin’s 3-pointer capped Brooklyn’s 9-0 run to open the third quarter.
Brooklyn took a 10-point lead on Durant’s 3-pointer with 3:57 left in the quarter. Toronto responded by scoring the next eight points, but Durant completed the third-quarter scoring to give Brooklyn an 88-77 lead.
Khem Birch (knee) did not play for the Raptors.
