Mills, Durant power Brooklyn Nets past Raptors in overtime

Australian Patty Mills shot a season-high 30 points and Kevin Durant had 34 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists as the shorthanded Brooklyn Nets outlasted the visiting Toronto Raptors for a 131-129 overtime victory on Wednesday (AEDT).

The Nets rallied from an 11-point deficit on a night when they had only eight players available due to seven players being placed in the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocol.

Mills sent the game to overtime with a three-pointer with 13.1 seconds left. The key free throws to ice the game in overtime were hit by Mills and David Duke jnr.

LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre’ Bembry, Jevon Carter, James Johnson and Paul Millsap were declared out for the game. About an hour before the opening tip, Bruce Brown and James Harden entered the protocol.

Durant, who was listed as questionable with a sore right ankle after scoring 51 points on Sunday in Detroit, produced his 14th career regular-season triple-double and second this season.

Durant shot 12 of 29 from the field in 48 minutes as the Nets won for the fourth time in five games.

The Nets’ Patty Mills drives to the basket against the Toronto Raptors.Credit:AP

Mills hit seven three-pointers as the Nets shot 48.5 per cent. Rookie Kessler Edwards added a career-best 17 points and 10 boards in his third career game while Nic Claxton contributed 16 points.

Fred VanVleet paced the Raptors with 31 points, scoring 16 points in Toronto’s 44-point third quarter that gave them a 100-91 lead into the fourth. Gary Trent jnr and Pascal Siakam added 25 apiece and rookie Scottie Barnes finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds as Toronto shot 45.7 per cent.

The Nets held a 117-111 lead when Mills hit a three-pointer with 4:43 remaining but Toronto scored the next nine points for a 120-117 lead on Trent’s three-pointer with 1:21 left.

Brooklyn tied the game when Mills beat the shot clock with an off-balance three-pointer with 13.1 seconds left.

VanVleet’s three-pointer made it 130-129 with 5.4 seconds remaining and Mills split two free throws with 3.3 seconds. The game ended with Barnes’ three-point try bouncing off the top of the rim at the buzzer.

Reuters

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