Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant reacts during a game Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant's 30 points fuelled a 112-100 NBA win over the Wizards in Washington on Monday. Picture: Etienne Laurent/EPA
Los Angeles - The Brooklyn Nets cruised to their fourth straight NBA victory on Monday as Kevin Durant's 30 points fueled a 112-100 win over the Wizards in Washington.
The Nets, who battled through early season struggles that saw coach Steve Nash sacked then dealt with the suspension of Kyrie Irving in an anti-Semitism row, have now won eight of their last nine games.
"We're building something," Durant said. "We've got to keep fine-tuning."
Durant said the Nets' recent strong run owed something to seven straight games at home, and also to the fact that a few opponents were shorthanded.
24 PTS | 5 AST
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) December 13, 2022
KAI added a few more to the highlight reel tonight 🤩 pic.twitter.com/dYs8ASBXK4
But he added: "For the most part, I like the brand of basketball we played on both ends of the court."
"Regardless of who was on the floor, we still played our system."
On Monday, the Nets led by double digits for much of the second half, holding the Wizards to 45 points after the interval.
Durant added nine rebounds and six assists and Irving added 24 points as the Nets dealt the Wizards a seventh straight defeat.
Will Barton scored 22 points off the bench to lead the Wizards, who had 20 points apiece from Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma.
The Nets trail Cleveland by just half a game for third place in the East after the Cavaliers were up-ended by Western Conference stragglers San Antonio 112-111.
Josh Richardson scored 24 points to lead the Spurs, who were up by 10 with 4:35 to play and held on despite a Cavs rally that cut the deficit to two on Donovan Mitchell's putback basket with 53 seconds remaining.
Evan Mobley added a free throw that pulled Cleveland within one with 37.9 seconds left.
But Keldon Johnson blocked a shot by Mitchell, Cleveland's Darius Garland missed a three-pointer and Spurs reserve Devin Vassell came up with a steal to seal the victory.
The injury absence of Ja Morant was no problem for the Memphis Grizzlies, who roared to a 128-103 home victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
36 helpers in the dub tonight ✅
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) December 13, 2022
it might take a minute to show emall but enjoy a couple. #BigMemphis pic.twitter.com/JPFsvaal3f
Tyus Jones scored 22 points and Jaren Jackson delivered 15 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight blocked shots -- which tied the Grizzlies' franchise single-game record shared by Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol and Stromile swift.
His defensive efforts were key to holding the Hawks, who connected on just 37 of the 104 shots they put up.
The Grizzlies won their sixth straight and moved within half a game of the New Orleans Pelicans atop the Western Conference.
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Morant was sidelined with a sore right thigh while the Hawks were without their top scorer in Trae Young, who sat out with a tight low back a day after Atlanta's overtime victory over Chicago.
The Miami Heat clawed out a much-needed win in Indianapolis, where Bam Adebayo scored 22 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, Jimmy Butler added 20 points and the Heat clamped down defensively for an 87-82 victory over the Pacers.
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The Heat led 74-73 with 4:59 remaining when Kyle Lowry's three-pointer launched a 10-2 Miami scoring run.
Butler scored seven straight points in the burst and Miami held on for the win.
AFP