After two wins in a row, the Los Angeles Lakers conceded the next crashing damper in the eighth game of the NBA season. The Brooklyn Nets, on the other hand, win extremely clearly in the first of at least five games without the suspended Kyrie Irving.
The Brooklyn Nets have won the first game in the NBA since the suspension of their controversial basketball star Kyrie Irving. The Nets prevailed against the Washington Wizards with a cracking 128:86 (69:57) success. At the same time, Jacque Vaughn was the first success as caretaker manager after the club recently parted ways with their previous head coach Steve Nash. Kevin Durant stood out with 28 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
Irving was suspended by the Nets for at least five games after failing to make it clear in a press round that he had no anti-Semitic beliefs. Irving previously shared a link on his Twitter account to the film titled "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America," which US media also classified as racist, misogynist, homophobic and Islamophobic. Only after the suspension did Irving apologize. He admitted that his behavior was thoughtless. On Friday, outfitter Nike also put the contract with Irving on hold for the time being.
Luka Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks to a 111-110 (62-57) home win over the Toronto Raptors. The Slovenian superstar has 35 points, reaching 30 in each of his first eight appearances of the season. In NBA history, only Wilt Chamberlain had managed to do this in the 1959/60 season. The German national basketball player Maxi Kleber remained unobtrusive with two points.
With Isaiah Hartenstein, the second German player was also successful. With the New York Knicks, the 24-year-old scored a 106-104 (58-53) away win against the Philadelphia 76ers. Hartenstein put up eight points and ten rebounds. The guests caught up a twelve-point deficit in the final quarter and inflicted the sixth defeat of the season on the troubled top team. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers conceded their sixth loss after two straight wins in the eighth game of the season. In front of their own audience, the team around its weakening star LeBron James lost 116:130 to the Utah Jazz. James wasn't at his best after suffering a foot injury, but he still had 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Dennis Schröder has to wait for his first assignment after a thumb operation.
