Durant leads Nets to victory against Knicks

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

ANKARA (AA) - The Brooklyn Nets defeated the New York Knicks 110-107 in a Sunday NBA game.

Nets star Kevin Durant's 53 points and nine assists were the main force behind the team’s victory at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

"Guys rose to the occasion. We got a second win in a row, and let's see if we can keep building," said Nets coach Steve Nash about their third straight NBA win.

Another Nets' star, Kyrie Irving, could only watch his teammates' victory from the courtside as he is unvaccinated against COVID-19 and only allowed to attend the game as a spectator due to a private sector mandate.

The New York City mayor's office recently announced changes to pandemic restrictions, allowing people to attend indoor events such as NBA games even without masks or proof of vaccination, but there is an active private sector mandate requiring employees to be vaccinated to work in buildings.

The mandate has raised some eyebrows, with fans and the media saying it is unfair for players to only be allowed as spectators but not allowed to take part in games.

The New York Knicks' Julius Randle, Evan Fournier and RJ Barrett dropped 26, 25 and 24 points respectively but couldn't save their team from its second straight defeat.

The Brooklyn Nets are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings with 35 wins and 33 losses while the New York Knicks are 12th with 28 wins and 40 losses.