The Brooklyn Nets edged the Golden State Warriors 120-116 at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California, on Sunday, to secure their second straight win.

Kyrie Irving continued to carry the Nets' offense with incredible individual attacks in the absence of Kevin Durant. Having shot 12-for-22 from the field, including 5-for-7 behind the arc, Irving dropped 38 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. None of the Warriors could stop him unless they double-teamed him. Irving scored double-digit points in both the third and fourth quarters for the Nets to beat a 12-point deficit.

Irving is not a solid playmaker and relies on drawing defensive attention to dish to open shooters. On Sunday night, Royce O'Neale and Joe Harris didn't let him down, combining to shoot 8-for-14 from downtown. O'Neale made a triple at 0:26 in the fourth quarter to help the Nets lead 118-116.

Nic Claxton was the second-best-performing player of the Nets, but the team and their fans might have mixed feelings about him. As the league's leader in both field goal (FG) rate (73.3 percent) and blocks per game (2.7), Claxton continued did an excellent job of finishing in the paint (9-for-13) and protecting the rim (delivering three blocks) to get a double-double of 24 points and 15 rebounds.

However, Claxton is also the worst free throw shooter in today's NBA with a free throw rate of 47.2 percent. The Warriors' head coach Steve Kerr exploited Claxton's weakness and had his players implement "Hack-a-Nic" – fouling Claxton on purpose to send him to the free throw line – multiple times in Sunday's game. As a result, he missed nine of his 15 free throws.

Despite that, coach Jacque Vaughn still allowed Claxton to play over 36 minutes on Sunday night because as long as Claxton was on the court, he caused more trouble for the Warriors than the pain he gave to the Nets. As an elite blocker, Claxton also has the quickness that makes people forget he is 2.11 meters tall. The Nets chose to pressure ball handlers and deny the ball as their defensive strategy against the Warriors. Such arrangements required all defenders to be quick in rotating.

The Warriors were limited to an FG rate of 45.6 percent due to the Nets' defense, they had a good chance to win at home. Their bench unit outscored the Nets' counterpart 50-21. Donte DiVincenzo shot 4-for-4 at the 3-point line and delivered eight assists with no turnover; Kevon Looney had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds; Jonathan Kuminga went 9-for-13 in the paint to get 20 points.

Nonetheless, the Warriors starting lineup blew the advantage earned by their teammates off the bench. If Jordan Poole and Draymond Green made their regular contributions, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins were nothing but disappointments thanks to their struggling offensive performances.

Wiggins missed seven of his nine FGs to get only nine points and he was benched for the whole fourth quarter. Thompson went 4-for-17 from the field, including 0-for-7 from deep. Curry did okay in the first three quarters, but missed all four of his attempts – all jumpers – in the final period to get only two points while the Nets rallied back 34-26.

The Warriors dropped to 10th in the Western Conference after Sunday's loss. They share the same 23-24 record with the Oklahoma City Thunder behind.

Other games on Sunday (away teams come first):

New Orleans Pelicans 96-100 Miami Heat

In a low scoring game by today's standard at the Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida, on Sunday, the Pelicans and the Heat combined to commit as many as 45 turnovers. Only Orlando Robinson of the two sides' 18 players sent to the floor didn't turn the ball over. Neither team reached even 20 points in the second quarter (Heat 18-15 Pelicans).

The Heat trailed by as many as 16 points (41-25) in the second quarter but then cut their deficit bit by bit thanks to Jimmy Butler's aggressiveness (shooting 8-for-10 in free throws), Tyler Herro's 3-point shooting (4-for-10) and Kyle Lowry's explosion in the fourth quarter (scoring nine points in 102 seconds) before coming back to win at home.

Memphis Grizzlies 110-112 Phoenix Suns

Chris Paul came back for the Suns in Sunday's game at Footprint Arena in Phoenix, Arizona after missing seven games due to hip injury. Having gone 6-for-9 in FGs to score 15 points in the first quarter and delivered six assists in the first half, he helped the Suns build a 25-point lead (62-37). Though Paul struggled in shooting in the second half, Mikal Bridges and Torrey Craig stood out to shut down the Grizzles' counterstrike.

The Grizzlies committed as many as 20 turnovers in this game and 12 of them happened in the first half, during which they also went 2-for-14 behind the arc. They bounced back strongly from the third quarter. After Desmond Bane made the layup at 0:07 in the fourth period, they only trailed by two points.

In the following possession, Steven Adams and Dillon Brooks trapped Cameron Johnson and knocked the ball out of his hands. However, the ball went toward the sideline and when Adams tossed it back, it was caught by the Suns' Dario Saric before the clock ran out on the Grizzlies.

Los Angeles Lakers 121-112 Portland Trail Blazers

It takes a strong heart to watch this dramatic game at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday night. The Lakers shot 13-for-19 from the field to lead 33-26 in the first quarter, but then the Trail Blazers countered 45-13 in the second period. The 32-point difference made the biggest single quarter separation in the NBA this season.

When many thought the purple and gold and gold wouldn't be able to come back judging by their poor 3-point shooting ability, LeBron James scored 16 points in the third quarter alone, leading the Lakers to launch a 40-20 rally. The team carried on their remarkable momentum to get 35 points in the fourth quarter, outscoring the opponents 35-21 again to pocket a comeback win.

New York Knicks 116-125 Toronto Raptors

Oklahoma City Thunder 101-99 Denver Nuggets