Durant hurts knee as Nets get back on win column

MANILA, Philippines — It was a bittersweet win on Saturday (Sunday, Manila time) for the Brooklyn Nets as they drubbed the New Orleans Pelicans, 120-105, at the Barclays Center.

This, because Nets star Kevin Durant left the game with an apparent left knee injury in the first half.

He finished with 12 points, three rebounds, and two assists in 12 minutes of play.

The 6-foot-10 cager will be undergoing an MRI on Sunday (Monday in Manila) to determine the severity of the injury.

Even without Durant for the whole second half, though, the Nets found themselves cruising behind James Harden's 27 points, 15 assists, and eight rebounds.

The Nets led wire-to-wire with their biggest lead coming at the tail end of the second quarter at 30 points.

Brooklyn thus inched closer to the top spot in the East as they are only a game behind the Chicago Bulls.

Elsewhere, the Toronto Raptors reasserted their mastery over the Milwaukee Bucks at the Fiserv Forum in Wisconsin, 103-96.

Led by Pascal Siakam's triple-double, the Raptors arrested a two-game slide and notched their 5th consecutive win over the defending champions.

Siakam finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

In the other games, the New York Knicks came up clutch on both ends of the floor to fend off the Atlanta Hawks, 117-108.

RJ Barrett picked up the scoring load for New York wih his 26 markers. He also had five rebounds.

Trae Young paced the Hawks in the loss with 29 points.

The Portland Trailblazers, for their part, edged the Washington Wizards, 115-110.

Anfernee Simons top scored for Portland with 31 points to go along with 11 assists.

Jusuf Nurkic finished with a double-double as well as 23 points and 14 boards.

Portland was without star duo Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum who are both nursing injuries.