Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, left, played 19 minutes Friday night against the Toronto Raptors before he was removed from the game because he was deemed a close contact of a team employee who tested positive for COVID-19. Frank Franklin II/Associated Press
Kevin Durant will miss at least three games for coronavirus health and safety protocols before being eligible to return to the Brooklyn Nets.
A night after he was held out of the start of a game and then removed in the third quarter while the NBA ruled on his eligibility, Durant was told he would face seven days of quarantine.
That means his return could come Saturday at Golden State, where Durant won two NBA titles in three seasons.
Durant drove in a car with a team employee three times Friday, apparently without masks, according to a person with knowledge of the details. Though Durant has continued to test negative, he is considered a close contact of the employee, who tested positive.
ALL-STAR GAME: Kawhi Leonard, MVP of last year’s All-Star Game, suggested the NBA is prioritizing money over the health of its players in planning to stage the midseason exhibition in March.
“We all know why we’re playing it,” the Los Angeles Clippers star said Friday night after a 119-115 loss to the Boston Celtics. “It’s money on the line, it’s an opportunity to make more money. Just putting money over health right now, pretty much.”
The game and its skills competition will be held in Atlanta on March 7, the league told its teams earlier this week. It remains unclear when players would have to report and how testing will work in Atlanta, or if fans will be part of the game.
“We’re playing games now and it’s still a pandemic, doing all these protocols and rules, so it doesn’t really surprise me,” Leonard said.
Lakers star LeBron James, who is the second-leading fan vote-getter behind Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, said he’s not happy about staging the exhibition during a pandemic.
“I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star Game this year,” James said.
Celtics guard Kemba Walker agreed with James, calling him “a smart man,” and Sacramento guard De’Aaron Fox said he thought the notion of an All-Star Game during a pandemic was “stupid.”
SATURDAY’S GAMES
KINGS 119, NUGGETS 114: Harrison Barnes had 28 points and seven rebounds to help offset a career-high 50 points by Denver’s Nikola Jokic, and Sacramento won at home.
Jokic had 12 assists and nine rebounds and scored 23 points in the fourth quarter. But it wasn’t enough for the Nuggets, who lost their third straight.
KNICKS 110, TRAIL BLAZERS 99: Elfrid Payton and Julius Randle scored 22 points apiece to power New York to a win at home.
Six players scored in double figures for New York, which has won two straight and improved to 11-13. RJ Barrett finished with 18 points, Alec Burks added 16 and fellow reserve Immanuel Quickley had 12.
Damian Lillard scored 29 points in his return to the lineup, but Portland had its two-game winning streak end. Lillard, who missed Portland’s 121-105 victory at Philadelphia on Thursday because of a strained abdomen, started and played 38 minutes.
BULLS 118, MAGIC 92: Zach LaVine bounced back from a poor performance a night earlier and scored 39 points as visiting Chicago routed injury-plagued Orlando.
SPURS 111, ROCKETS 106: DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points and San Antonio withstood a late charge from visiting Houston.
76ERS 124, NETS 108: Joel Embiid scored 33 points and Ben Simmons had 16 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists to lead Philadelphia to a win at home.
James Harden had 26 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for Brooklyn, which was without stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
THUNDER 120, TIMBERWOLVES 118: Darius Bazley made the tiebreaking layup with 1:16 to play after Oklahoma City blew a 23-point lead against visiting Minnesota.
The Thunder scored a team-record 83 points in the first half, then had only 13 in the third quarter, and Minnesota came all the way back to take the lead in the fourth before Oklahoma City recovered.
BUCKS 124, CAVALIERS 99: Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Jrue Holiday scored 20 points and Milwaukee won at Cleveland for the second time in two days.
HAWKS 132, RAPTORS 121: Trae Young had 28 points and 13 assists, Clint Capela finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds, and Atlanta won at home, snapping a three-game losing streak Saturday night.
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