On Sunday night, it was the Brooklyn Nets playing the Washington Wizards as the NBA preseason continued.
It marked the return and long-awaited debut of All-Star Kevin Durant as a Net. He did not show any signs of being rusty as he shined in his debut, scoring 15 points in just under 24 minutes.
Durant had ruptured his Achilles tendon during the 2019 NBA Finals. The 32-year-old All-Star left the Golden State Warriors in the offseason after the 2019 NBA Finals, joining the Nets along with close friend Kyrie Irving.
Unfortunately, because of his ruptured Achilles tendon, he did not play the whole 2019-2020 season as he was recovering from the injury.
Despite missing a whole season recovering, the 32-year-old showed explosive skills and that he was still capable of playing on an elite level. His first points back was a driving two-handed dunk in the first quarter. During the first nine minutes of the game both, Durant and Irving were on the court together. Durant scored 11 points off a perfect field goal as he went three for three. Irving scored 12 points off a five for eight shooting.
After the game, Durant said, “It felt great to be back in the routine and be back on the floor and feel like a player again. It felt great. Everybody’s texting and calling and asking me how I’m feeling. I can’t wait until that’s over with so I can get back in the swing of things and just feel like one of the guys again.”
Although he played well, the All-Star forward went further to say that he is not 100% ready. “I can’t tell after one preseason game,” Durant said. “I felt good. I want to play at the highest level of basketball, the highest intensity of basketball, and it’s not in the preseason, but it’s a good first step.”
The Nets as a team were playing good basketball despite both of their stars playing limited minutes. Brooklyn shot 63.9% in the first half. Brooklyn finished the game shooting 51% from the field compared to Washingtons’ 43.3%. The Nets were able to hold on and beat the Wizards 119 to 114.
