Durant reaches 31,000 points as Rockets beat Suns
Kevin Durant became the eighth player in NBA history to reach 31,000 career points during the Houston Rockets’ 117-98 win over the Phoenix Suns.
The 37-year-old started the game with just four points to reach the milestone and took his tally to 31,000 points with a 10-foot jump shot midway through the first quarter.
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Durant, who finished the night with 28 points for a total of 31,024, sits behind Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James on the all-time list.
“As you come into the league, you look at these guys as heroes and you put them on a pedestal, and you look at their accomplishments as sometimes unattainable,” Durant said.
“But then you go down that road trying to do your own thing. That’s what I’ve been doing since 2008.
“I focused on trying to be the best player I could be and they set a standard for every player when they left the league.
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“Guys like Wilt, Michael, Kobe – I miss so many guys – they just set a standard that I try to reach every day.”
Antetokounmpo out for up to a month
The Milwaukee Bucks expect to be without star player Giannis Antetokounmpo for the next month as he recovers from a calf strain.
The Greek power forward limped out of Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons after falling to the floor during a defensive play.
Initial scans indicated the 31-year-old could miss two to four weeks.
But the Bucks say they will give Antetokounmpo more time to recover given the nature of the injury.
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“I feel like we should learn this with calves: Make sure they’re healthy,” Bucks coach Don Rivers said.
“So it might take us longer than we would like. That might also make Giannis frustrated, but we just have to try to get it right.”
Elsewhere, James and Luka Doncic were absent as the Los Angeles Lakers lost 126-105 to the Boston Celtics.
James, 40, continues to be plagued by a sciatica problem in his left foot, which has seen him miss the first 14 games of the season.
Doncic, who missed the game for personal reasons, could return for a three-game road trip against the Philadelphia 76ers this weekend.
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