Kevin Durant returns to Brooklyn for the first time and leads Phoenix Suns to easy victory over Brooklyn Nets

This was Kevin Durant’s first game in Brooklyn since getting traded to the Phoenix Suns on February 9, 2023 and he balled out, giving Nets fans flashbacks of what he did on the court when he played for the home team. In this game, Durant dominated and helped the Phoenix Suns defeat the Brooklyn Nets 136-120 at the Barclays Center.

Kevin Durant’s time in Brooklyn wasn’t long, only 3 seasons following his tenure with the Golden State Warriors. Everyone remembers the infamous shot, where his shoe was right on the 3-point line in a Game 7 win or go home matchup against the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks. Things didn’t go as planned with Durant’s stint in Brooklyn, and this eventually led to him requesting to get traded and landing in Phoenix to pair up with superstar Devin Booker.

In tonight’s matchup, Durant went off, scoring 33 points while grabbing 5 rebounds and racking up 8 assists. Jusuf Nurkic had a monster line as well, recording 28 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks on 73% shooting. Devin Booker dropped 22 points while dishing out 8 assists as well.

For Brooklyn, they were without Ben Simmons, who had a nice return last game as he almost recorded a triple double. Tonight, Cam Thomas led the way with 25 points on 58% shooting. Former Phoenix Suns players Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson both had great games too. Bridges went for 21 points with 6 made threes while Johnson scored 18 points on 50% shooting. Lonnie Walker recorded 19 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals off the bench.

This win improves the Suns record to 27-20, which places them at 6th in the Western Conference and 0.5 games behind the 5th seeded Sacramento Kings. Phoenix is 8-2 over their last 10 games and will look to continue this hot streak on Friday night when they face the Atlanta Hawks.

Meanwhile, for Brooklyn this loss drops them to 19-27, which makes them the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference and 0.5 games behind the 10th seeded Atlanta Hawks. Brooklyn is 3-7 over their last 10 games and will look to turn things around on Saturday night when they play the Philadelphia 76ers.