Nets win without Irving, Bucks keep rolling

LOS ANGELES: The Brooklyn Nets shook off controversy and eased to a 128-86 NBA victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday in their first game since star guard Kyrie Irving was suspended.

Kevin Durant came up just shy of a triple double, delivering 28 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists.

Nic Claxton added 18 points for the Nets, who notched just their third victory of a young season that has already seen plenty of turmoil.

The Nets sacked head coach Steve Nash on Tuesday, and suspended Irving for at least five games on Friday — a week after he sparked a firestorm with a social media post featuring a link to a film widely condemned as anti-Semitic.

Hours after the suspension was announced Irving did apologize via Instagram, but the fallout continued Friday as Nike suspended its relationship with him and canceled the upcoming launch of his Kyrie 8 signature shoe.

“Let’s put the joy back in basketball,” Nets owner Joe Tsai said in a tweet after the victory.

Durant certainly did all he could in that direction, shining in his hometown of Washington where the margin of defeat was the largest at home in Wizards history.

Up by 12 at halftime, the Nets roared out of the gate in the third quarter and outscored the Wizards 59-29 in the second half.

“We just continued to move the basketball all night. Everybody touched it, everybody got to the paint and was able to generate some good offense,” Durant said.

“That’s how we want to play moving forward,” added Durant, whose highlights included a wicked crossover dribble that brought Wizards center Daniel Gaffort to the floor in the first quarter.

A change of look didn’t change the fortunes of reigning NBA champions Golden State, who fell 114-105 to the Pelicans in New