Kevin Durant Leads Nets to Victory in His Return to SF Bay Area

Kevin Durant played for Golden State for three years, and the Warriors won the NBA Championship in two of those. Durant suffered an Achilles tendon injury in the 2018-19 season playoffs, and then signed as a free agent with the Brooklyn Nets in the off season. He missed all of last season recovering from his injury, and finally made his Brooklyn debut on December 22nd, 2020.

Durant picked up where he left off, as a big time scorer, averaging 29 points per game in his first 19 games with the Nets. On February 13th, Durant returned to the Bay Area for the first time as a player on an opposing team as the Nets faced the Warriors in a building that wasn’t open yet when Durant played for Golden State, the Chase Center.

There were no fans in the stands due to Covid restrictions, but the Warriors had a video tribute to Durant (they plan on having a another day next season to honor Durant after fans can return to the arena). As for the game, Durant scored 20 points, with five rebounds and six assists as the Nets beat the Warriors 134-117. Kyrie Irving led the Nets with 23 points and James Harden scored 19 and had 16 assists. Six Nets scored in double figures. Steph Curry led Golden State with 27.

Brooklyn (16-12 after the win) is a scoring machine this year, averaging 121 points per game, second in the NBA. The Nets, do, however, give up a lot of points as well, nearly 118 per game, which is third most in the league.