The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 114-108 at Moda Center on Monday, achieving their second win in a row.

Neither side had their complete lineup. The Trail Blazers lacked three of their starters – C.J. McCollum, Damian Lillard and Norman Powell – and Larry Nance Jr., a clutch-time small-ball center. The Nets didn't have their orchestrator, James Harden, or their only full-sized big man, LaMarcus Aldridge.

Despite the above absences, the Nets were still the better team on paper, not to mention that two of their Big Three, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, played in Monday's game.

However, the Nets still lost after Durant and Irving combined for 50 points, 18 rebounds, nine assists and three steals. The team played back-to-back games in Brooklyn on Saturday and Sunday, then flew cross-country to face Portland on Monday. Irving didn't (and couldn't) play at home but Durant did. He first played over 43 minutes at the Barclays Center to help the Nets beat the San Antonio Spurs by two points (121-119) and then competed for another 41 minutes at Moda Center.

"I wanna play and they pay me money to play basketball," Durant said before Monday's game.

Fairly speaking, there wasn't much the Trail Blazers' defenders could do to slow Durant and Irving down, just like there wasn't much the two could expect from their teammates for help. Nets head coach Steve Nash intentionally separated the time of Durant and Irving on the floor to make sure that his team always had a reliable scoring option in the game. But when it was Nic Claxton or DeAndre' Bembry waiting open at the 3-point line, Durant and Irving had few options when they were trapped by defenders.

It's true that both Durant and Irving can knock down tough shots, but they couldn't keep draining shots with two or even three defenders in front of them.

Moreover, Durant also had a heavy defensive load to shoulder. Without Aldridge, the Nets were smaller than most teams in the paint and thus needed Durant to do a lot of rim protection. Claxton was the team's starting center on Monday, but committed three quick fouls in the first quarter. Jusuf Nurkic, who has never been known to create his own offense, stepped to the free throw line six times in Q1.

That's why the Nets had to close in more and more as the game went on in order to protect the paint. It didn't lead to any lethal consequences in the first half because the Trail Blazers were 3-15 from downtown during that period. When Rip City began to heat up in the second half by shooting at 12-23 beyond the arc, the Nets' defense soon fell apart.

Robert Covington and Ben McLemore both made four triples for the Trail Blazers in the second half, at 80 and 66.7 percent, respectively.

Trail Blazers head coach Chauncy Billups revealed that McCollum is ready to return after the birth of his first child. However, there have been reports that Lillard may be ruled out for the rest of the season, according to Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report.

Approaching the midway point of the regular season, the Trail Blazers may want to start thinking about their future.

Jazz are struggling without Rudy Gobert

The Detroit Pistons beat the Utah Jazz 126-116 at Little Caesars Arena on Monday, giving the Western Conference powerhouse their third straight loss.

Pistons rookies Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey both put down 29 points for the home team after each made five 3-pointers. Cunningham also had eight assists, two steals and two blocks.

"I have to give all the credit to my teammates, who kept encouraging me and getting me the ball," Cunningham said. "I'm new to this league, but I've been playing basketball for a long time. I know what I'm capable of doing to help a team win once I get into a rhythm."

Monday marked Utah's fourth consecutive game without Gobert, who is out due to the NBA's COVID-19 protocols. Three of the games were losses. The team allowed 122, 125 and 126 points, respectively, in the three losses. Hassan Whiteside was unable to fill Gobert's role in the starting lineup. Neither could the small-ball unit with Rudy Gay at the center position.

"When you don't have the defensive player of the year on the floor, you aren't going to be as good," Jazz head coach Quinn Snyder said. "But we are still good enough to do a lot better than we did in the second half of the game. There's no reason for us to play as poorly as we did."

The Jazz (28-13) face the Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers in the coming games. They need to play better than their recent outings if they don't want to be surpassed in the Western Conference standings by the Memphis Grizzlies (28-14).

Other games on Monday (away teams come first):

Milwaukee Bucks 99-103 Charlotte Hornets

San Antonio Spurs 96-111 New York Knicks

Philadelphia 76ers 111-91 Houston Rockets

Cleveland Cavaliers 109-108 Sacramento Kings