The NBA's newest 'super team' have wasted no time in giving the league a glimpse of what they are capable of, with James Harden marking a successful debut with the Brooklyn Nets.
Harden and Kevin Durant combined for 74 points as the Nets, who were without Kyrie Irving, defeated the Orlando Magic 122-115.
Orlando, behind 34 points from Nikola Vucevic, did well to keep in touch with Brooklyn the whole way, but the Nets' new-look offence was simply too much for the Magic to handle.
"𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚." –@JHarden13 pic.twitter.com/OED43KmjEy — Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 17, 2021
The victory marked Brooklyn's third win in a row as they improved to fifth in the Eastern Conference.
The San Antonio Spurs had no sympathy for Harden's former team, steamrolling the Houston Rockets 103-91.
The Spurs were able to recover from a slow start, outscoring the Rockets by 21 points over the final three quarters.
Jakob had himself a GAME! 👏 season-high 13 PTS | 11 REB | 3 BLK pic.twitter.com/T3WIRuqnou — San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 17, 2021
DeMar DeRozan led San Antonio with 24, while Christian Wood posted 24 points and 18 rebounds for the Rockets.
The Memphis Grizzlies repelled a late flurry from the Philadelphia 76ers to increase their winning streak to four.
The Sixers outscored the Grizzlies by 10 points in the fourth, but a missed three from Tyrese Maxey at the buzzer sealed Memphis' 106-104 victory.
4 in a row. #GrzNxtGen pic.twitter.com/YrLxVyXnKZ — Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) January 17, 2021
It was also a close affair between the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors, with the Raptors holding on for a 116-113 win.
Norman Powell picked up 24 points off the bench for Toronto, while Charlotte's Gordon Hayward led all scorers with 25.
The rest of the day's games saw the Detroit Pistons upset the Miami Heat 120-100 and the Portland Trail Blazers defeat the Atlanta Hawks 112-106.
