Brook Lopez returns to welcoming arms of Brooklyn Nets as Thunder get thumped

The 7-foot centre returned after nearly 11 months away from action and scored 18 points in a 116-85 Nets victory as the Thunder faced the sobering reality of life without Durant or Westbrook.

Brooklyn Nets centre Brook Lopez looks for a shot against Oklahoma City's Steven Adams in his team's NBA victory on Monday night. John Minchillo / AP / November 3, 2014

Brook Lopez couldn’t explain how happy he was to be back, though his smile said enough.

For the Oklahoma City Thunder, it was more misery.

Lopez scored 18 points in his first regular-season game in about 11 months, leading the Brooklyn Nets to the biggest home-opening romp in franchise history, a 116-85 victory over the injury-depleted Thunder on Monday night.

“I can’t put it in words,” Lopez said. “It was great to be back out there. I’ve missed it for a long time and our team definitely took care of business tonight. Our guys make it easy.”

Alan Anderson added 18 points and Deron Williams had 17 points and nine assists for the Nets, who got their leading scorer back on a night the Thunder, already without Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, lost yet another player to injury.

Reggie Jackson scored 23 points in his season debut after missing the first three games with a sprained right ankle, but the Thunder left just as short-handed as they entered when starting guard Andre Roberson sprained his left foot. He played just 11 1/2 minutes of the first half and left on crutches. He won’t play Tuesday at Toronto.

“That’s just how things are going right now. But we’re not throwing the white flag. We’re going to keep battling,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said.

With only nine players available, Jackson logged 42 minutes, shooting 8-of-20.

“I played pretty terrible. That sums it up. Seven turnovers. Shot poorly. I felt like I let I let my team down,” Jackson said.

Lopez was averaging a team-best 20.7 points when he broke his right foot last December 20 against Philadelphia and had season-ending surgery. He was back for the start of training camp but sprained the foot during an exhibition game in China and missed the Nets’ first two games.

He had played so little that coach Lionel Hollins joked before the game that he would watch the 7-footer to “make sure he doesn’t trip over his tongue”.

That wasn’t a problem because Lopez got a quick rest, heading to the bench in less than three minutes after picking up two fouls. The Nets began building a big lead soon after, taking a 32-19 advantage after going 5-of-7 from three-point range in the first quarter.

Lopez shot 6-of-10 from the field and 6-of-7 from the foul line in 24 minutes, highlighted by a powerful dunk off a pass from Kevin Garnett in the first half.

“It was just good to see him have that bounce, explosion,” Garnett said. “We know he’s having foot problems. He’s playing through a lot, man. And like I’ve said, if we’re going to be anything, we’re going to need the big fellow.”

Brooklyn took a 59-40 lead to halftime when Bojan Bogdanovic and Mason Plumlee hooked up for an alley-oop to beat the buzzer.

The Nets led by as many as 35 in the second half, Durant standing in the coaches’ huddle during timeouts with his broken right foot in a walking boot whenever Brooks tried unsuccessfully to halt Brooklyn’s momentum.

The Thunder fell to 1-3, though this was the first time they were never really in the game. Perry Jones and Sebastian Telfair each finished with 16 points.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Grizzlies 93, Pelicans 81

Marc Gasol scored 16 points, Zach Randolph had 15 and Tayshaun Prince added 14 as the Memphis Grizzlies extended their home winning streak to a franchise record 16 straight with a victory over the new Orleans Pelicans.

The Grizzlies, off to a franchise-best 4-0 start, got three double-doubles. Randolph had 11 rebounds to give him a double-double in each of the team’s four games. Gasol (11 rebounds) and Tony Allen (12 points, 11 rebounds) also finished with double-doubles.

Tyreke Evans led the Pelicans (1-2) with 21 points. New Orleans shot only 34 per cent from the field.

Rockets 104, 76ers 93

James Harden had 35 points and nine rebounds and Dwight Howard added 11 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets past the Philadelphia 76ers.

Trevor Ariza hit six three-pointers and scored 24 points to help Houston improve to 4-0. The Rockets made 16-of-34 three-pointers and dominated the Sixers 47-31 on the boards.

Harden made his first 17 free throws and the Rockets had assists on 27 of 32 field goals.

Tony Wroten led the winless Sixers (0-4) with 20 points and KJ McDaniels had 14.

Ariza picked up in Philadelphia where he left off in March when he scored a career-high 40 points and spoiled Allen Iverson’s jersey retirement celebration night. Playing for Washington, Ariza made all six three-point attempts in the first quarter for 24 points and finished 14-of-23 from the floor overall.

Kings 110, Nuggets 105

Darren Collison scored 21 points, including three free throws in the final 16.2 seconds, and the Sacramento Kings held off the Denver Nuggets.

DeMarcus Cousins added 19 points and Reggie Evans grabbed 14 rebounds as the Kings started the season 3-1 for the first time since 2010/11. Sacramento showed no signs of fatigue after beating the Clippers the day before in Los Angeles.

Collison secured the win by hitting two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining.

The Nuggets had seven players in double figures, led by Arron Afflalo and JaVale McGee with 16 points apiece. Wilson Chandler scored 12 of his 14 in the fourth quarter.

Mavericks 118, Celtics 113

Chandler Parsons scored 29 points, including a key three-pointer to help Dallas hang on after going up by 30 before half-time for the second time in two home games, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Boston Celtics.

Avery Bradley had a chance to tie with three free throws when he was fouled on a three-pointer by Monta Ellis with 39 seconds left after Boston trailed by 31 in the second quarter. But he missed the second one.

After Ellis put Dallas back up by three at 116-113, Parsons won a jump ball with Jared Sullinger, tipping it to Ellis, who was fouled by Rajon Rondo on a drive and made both free throws.

Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points. Jeff Green led the Celtics with 35, and Bradley had a career-high 32.

Clippers 107, Jazz 101

Chris Paul recorded a triple double, with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, and Blake Griffin had 31 points and nine rebounds on 14-of-21 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers bounced back from a surprise loss to the Kings with a win over the Utah Jazz.

Gordon Hayward helped the Jazz keep it close, making 10-of-19 shots and scoring 27 points with seven rebounds and five assists as the visitors trimmed a 13-point half-time deficit to just three by the start of the fourth quarter.

Utah made it as close as a single point, but LA held off their advance each time. Turkish centre Enes Kanter pitched in 17 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

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