Kyrie Irving led the Brooklyn Nets with 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists in their 113-106 victory over the Washington Wizards. James Harden added 26 points, eight assists and five rebounds.
Down by nine with about six minutes left in the fourth, the Wizards cut the Nets’ lead to just one in a three-minute span thanks to a Russell Westbrook driving layup.
On the other end, Nicolas Claxton answered with a dunk on the cut to the rim plus the foul to make it a 3-point play, giving the Nets some much-needed breathing room.
The Nets built their lead up to six before Washington came back to make it a two-point game with 45 seconds left in regulation. However, Claxton came up big once again, as Irving drove to the rim and found the 6-foot-11 center down low for the bucket plus the foul for another 3-point play, basically giving Brooklyn everything they needed to hold off the Wizards.
“At the end of the day, cream will always rise to the top, and talent always shows,” Claxton said.
Claxton finished with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and three blocks.
Blake Griffin only had two points in his Nets debut, but those were the loudest two points you’ll ever see, as the six-time All-Star drove to the rim and threw down a two-handed slam for his first dunk in a game since December 2019.
“I knew once it happened it was going to be a thing so I tried not to look down at the bench,” Griffin said. “But then I kind of peeked and saw everyone standing up, so it was hard not to smile in that situation. It felt good to just get that out of the way.”
Washington started this game off hot, as they led by as many as 14 points in the opening period. However, Brooklyn stormed back as Harden’s stepback jumper near the free-throw line at the 10:05 mark of the second quarter gave the Nets the lead for good.
Westbrook put up a triple-double – 29 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists. Rui Hachimura had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Alex Len contributed 20 points and nine rebounds.
