On January 16, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, the Nets played at home against the Pelicans, and the Nets fired full power in the first quarter, scoring 32 points in a single quarter and taking a 10-point lead.
In a game on the Nets without Durant and Irving, the 21-point defeat to the weak team Thunder temporarily ranked 3rd in the East. The Pelicans have not been good this season, finishing fourth from the bottom in the West with a 16-26 record, but have just won two straight and are in good shape.
Irving is out, Durant is back, and the Nets' starting lineup is: Durant, Edwards, Sharp, Mills, Harden. The Pelicans' starting lineups are: Jones, Ingram, Varan, Graham, Hart. Durant turned around and scored on a jumper in the first attack of the first quarter, Graham scored first for the Pelicans, Mills hit a three-pointer, the Nets opened better, Harden broke through two consecutive times to give the Nets a 9-3 lead. England shot a three-pointer to stop the bleeding, the Pelicans bit the score, and Ingram made a jump shot to make it 10-11.
Durant scored 2+1 to give the Nets a 16-10 lead. The timeout came back, Sharp dunked, Durant hit a three-pointer, the Nets hit a wave of 10-0, leading by 11 points, Hart and Graham hit two consecutive three-pointers to narrow the point gap, the two teams scored alternately, Walker hit a three-pointer, and the Nets led 29-19. After the timeout, Thomas hit a three-pointer, and he scored seven points in the first quarter to become a Wizard.
Durant's whistle-blowing three-pointer was ineffective, and the first quarter ended with the Nets leading 32-22. Durant had 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in the first quarter, Harden 6 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds, Thomas 7 points to become a Wizard, and Mills to 5 points. Pelicans' Ingram 6 points and Graham 5 points.