JACQUE VAUGHN

Kevin Durant will start for the Brooklyn Nets against Miami after missing 21 games with a sprained left knee ligament.

NEW YORK – Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving sent expectations soaring when they decided to come to Brooklyn. And that includes 7-11, so get to know us,” Irving said, referring to their uniform numbers. He sat out all last season, while Irving ended up limited to only 20 games because of a shoulder injury. In just 9 1/2 minutes, Durant and Irving outscored the Washington Wizards by themselves, combining for 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Durant, Irving and Nash have all downplayed the talk.

FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2018, file photo, Steve Nash speaks during induction ceremonies at the Basketball Hall of Fame, in Springfield, Mass. The Brooklyn Nets hired Steve Nash as their coach Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020, putting the Hall of Fame point guard in charge of the team that hopes to have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving together next season. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)The Brooklyn Nets hired Steve Nash as their coach Thursday, putting the Hall of Fame point guard in charge of the team that hopes to have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving together next season. The Nets finished the season under Jacque Vaughn, who they said would remain on staff as Nash's lead assistant. In Steve we see a leader, communicator and mentor who will garner the respect of our players," Marks said.

Those games went final shortly before San Antonio was playing its final game of the season, against Utah. The 76ers, starting as the Syracuse Nationals before moving to Philadelphia, went to the playoffs every year from 1950 through 1971. This is how long the streak, all of it with Gregg Popovich as head coach of the Spurs, went: David Stern wasnt even halfway through his 30-year run as commissioner when the Spurs streak started. And the Spurs won 170 playoff games in that span; only seven franchises have more playoff wins in their entire history. There were 102 players who got into at least one Spurs playoff game during the streak, including current NBA head coaches Jacque Vaughn, Steve Kerr and Monty Williams.

Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. The NBA playoff picture is getting a little clearer. Brooklyn secured one of the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference on Friday, defeating Sacramento 119-106. For the Nets, the clinching comes as something to savor in a topsy-turvy season. Should that series take place, the ninth-place team would have to go 2-0 in a best-of-two series to advance. Were going to try to win every game.Phoenix, Sacramento and New Orleans remain in the mix for a play-in series spot.

The Nets moved seven games ahead of ninth-place Washington in the Eastern Conference standings, and now the Wizards hopes of forcing a play-in series are fading. Thomas Bryant had a career-high 30 points and 13 rebounds, and Troy Brown Jr. added 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Wizards. The Nets are without DeAndre Jordan, Spencer Dinwiddie and Taurean Prince because of positive coronavirus tests before the restart. His 170 jams last season tied Kenyon Martin (2002-03) for the most in a season since the stat first was kept during the 1997-98 season. He is in his first season with the Nets after signing a two-way contract with the team in January.

They extended their winning streak to four and moved back ahead of the Nets into seventh place in the Eastern Conference. The Magic outscored the Nets 75-43 in the middle two quarters, allowing them to overcome some shaky defense at the start and finish. So Brooklyn started two players who hadn't started an NBA game this season one who never had. Veteran Jamal Crawford, signed as a substitute player after not playing in the NBA this season, did not play. Nets: Play Washington on Sunday.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. Jamal Crawford is coming off a 51-point game. And for a while, it looked like that game might have been Crawfords last as a player because for most of this season, the now 40-year-old guard remained unsigned. Bryant scored 60 in his final NBA game. If guys said your last game was a 51-point game off the bench, thats a heck of a exit, Crawford said. So, I tried to find the peace within that and I got a chance to spend time with family.

Cars drive under a sign greeting visitors near the entrance to Walt Disney World, Thursday, July 2, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Despite a huge surge of Floridians testing positive for the new coronavirus in recent weeks, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, two of Disney World's four parks are reopening Saturday, July 11. He had just walked off the court after the first Orlando Magic practice of the restart, and some of his teammates remained on the floor while engaged in a loud and enthusiastic shooting contest. We all missed it.The last eight teams were coming in Thursday, the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers among them. I really think the NBA did the best they could to know make this as good as they can for us.

Spencer Dinwiddie is a maybe, with his status unclear after both he and Jordan tested positive for the coronavirus. The Brooklyn Nets don't look ready for a restart, but general manager Sean Marks said Wednesday there was no discussion of the team not traveling to Florida for the resumption of the NBA season. Vaughn had moved Jordan into the starting lineup, but now the job apparently goes back to Jarrett Allen. They eventually decided it was best to first come back to Brooklyn, and both Dinwiddie and Jordan tested positive after returning. He sent his family to Phoenix when the virus struck New York, only to find that Arizona's cases are now rising.