By Adrian Stewart Co

Brooklyn Nets survived an endgame run by the Los Angeles Clippers for a 112-108 triumph in the 2020-2021 NBA Season on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

After seeing its once 15-point edge turned to a 108-all count by a huge Clippers rally, DeAndre Jordan surged the Nets ahead 110-108 with a tip-in from a missed attempt by Kyrie Irving.

Los Angeles’ Kawhi Leonard was then called for an offensive foul on the other end before James Harden put the game away for Brooklyn with two free throw conversions.

Harden finished the match with 37 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Kyrie Irving chipped in 28 markers and eight assists as the Nets improved to 20-12.

Jordan had double-double 13 points and 11 rebounds as Joe Harris and Bruce Brown also ended up with 13 markers each for the Nets, which were playing sans injured Kevin Durant.

Paul George led the way with 34 points, Leonard had double-double 29 points and 13 rebounds as Ivica Zubac contributed 13 markers as the Clippers dropped to 22-10.

Meanwhile, Toronto Raptors (16-15) recovered from a slow start to take down Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia 76ers (20-11), 110-103 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.

Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet led the way with 23 points each, while Chris Boucher ended up with 17 markers, including five triples, while also blocking three shots for the Raptors.

BOX SCORE:

BROOKLYN 112 – Harden 37, Irving 28, Jordan 13, Harris 13, Brown 13, Green 5, Shamet 3, Luwawu-Cabarrot 0.

LOS ANGELES 108 – George 34, Leonard 29, Zubac 13, Ibaka 8, Mann 6, Beverley 5, Williams 5, Morris 5, Batum 3, Jackson 0.

Quarterscores: 28-30, 58-51, 89-79, 112-108.