Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson and the Brooklyn Nets put on a masterclass of team basketball Wednesday night, making the extra pass, playing good defence and hitting a few clutch shots.
In a way, it was a reminder of what the Phoenix Suns used to have.
Bridges scored 21 points and Johnson added 15 in an emotional return to the desert, leading the Nets to a 116-112 victory and spoiling the debut of the Suns’ All-Star trio. The two players were traded from the Suns to the Nets last season in a package that sent 13-time All-Star Kevin Durant back to Phoenix.
“It feels great,” Johnson said about his return. “This building welcomed me with open arms a long time ago and welcomed me with open arms tonight. It’s pretty cool when you have the opportunity to come back to a place where the people still support you and care about you.”
The Nets have won seven of their past nine. Cam Thomas led Brooklyn with 24 points.
The Suns trailed by eight points at the break but rallied for an 88-86 lead heading into the fourth. The game stayed tight throughout the final quarter, but the Nets took the lead with about 10 minutes remaining and never gave it up.
Spencer Dinwiddie hit a 3 to put the Nets up 112-106 with 1:54 left. He followed with a layup on the team’s next offensive possession and finished with 16 points.
“We did a great job of relying on each other at different parts of the game,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said.
The Suns cut it to 114-112 with 28 seconds left, but Thomas hit two free throws with 3 seconds left to seal it. Thomas scored 10 points in the fourth.
It was the first time this season — in the 24th game — that Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal played for the Suns on the same night. The trio’s debut was delayed because of various injuries, particularly Beal’s sore back, which has limited him to five games this season.
Booker had 34 points and 12 assists, Durant added 27 points and Beal had 14. Jusuf Nurkic had 15 points and a season-high 22 rebounds.
Houston Rockets 117-104 Memphis Grizzlies.
In the other NBA match, Tari Eason scored a career-high 25 points, Jabari Smith Jr. added 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Houston Rockets extended their home winning streak to 11 games with a 117-104 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Eason came off the bench to shoot 10 for 16 and matched a career-high with 14 rebounds.
“I feel like this is something where I always play hard,” Eason said. “When you play hard, all the extra stuff happens, but I wouldn’t say I am doing anything outside of myself.”
The Rockets and Grizzlies face off again Friday night in Memphis in the second game of the home-and-home set.
Houston’s bench outscored the Grizzlies’ backups 58-19.
Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks each scored 11 points and Jae’Sean Tate had 10 points and seven rebounds for Houston, which shot 45 per cent, including 12 of 32 from 3-point range. Houston outrebounded Memphis 58-39.
The Rockets’ 11-game home winning streak is its longest since a franchise record 20-game run from January 10-April 5, 2018.
Jaren Jackson Jr. had a career-high 44 points and seven rebounds for Memphis, which lost its third straight game. Derrick Rose added 19 points and six assists and Vince Williams Jr. had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Jackson was 15 of 24 from the field and scored 29 points in the second half.
The Grizzlies shot 43 per cent but were just 10 of 38 from long distance. Memphis forced 19 Houston turnovers, which it converted into 23 points.
Desmond Bane, who is Memphis’ leading scorer at 24.8 points per game, was out with an illness. Bane became the 11th Grizzlies player to miss a game due to injury or illness this season.
Houston led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter before Memphis cut the lead to 57-43 at the half. The Grizzlies opened the second half on a 15-3 run and cut the Rockets’ lead to 60-58 on a free throw by Williams with eight minutes remaining in the third.
Leading 82-81 to start the fourth, Houston opened the quarter on a 10-2 run, stretching its lead to 92-83 on a jumper by VanVleet with 9 1/2 minutes left. Memphis got no closer than six points the rest of the way.
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