No Kevin Durant? No problem.
After the Nets talked about stealing a game with their star resting forward, this one was not stolen: it was earned.
The Nets continued to build momentum with a 147-125 victory Friday in Oklahoma City, which tied their highest scoring ladder in team history.
“They are very satisfying every time you win. But every time the whole team plays well, we can do some good things, because a group definitely stands out from the rest, ‘said Kyrie Irving. “Definitely proud of our guys because they competed on both sides of the floor and did not let their foot off the gas pedal.”
Irving had 25 points and seven assists, while James Harden dominated with 25 points, 11 assists and 10 boards. He has three triple doubles and a 6-2 record as a Net.
“They were both amazing. “James manages the game so well, spreads the floor, draws, helps, returns, gets balls defensively in his hands,” said coach Steve Nash. ‘Kyrie was just an incredible shooting. He can play amazing plays with basketball and it’s such a threat that it’s hard to include defense. ”
Apparent. Harden’s playmaking made everyone around him better, and the Nets’ nine double-digit players match a team record on April 8, 1984.
Joe Harris added 20 points on 5 of 9 from deep. With Landry Shamet (3 of 7) and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (4 of 8) finally hitting from the outside, the Nets shot 57 percent and led by as many as 25 to win their fourth consecutive game.
“Very, very good. The ball moves. We were busy on both sides of the floor. “Coaches have drawn up a beautiful game plan and we have executed on both sides of the ball,” said Harden. ‘We would like to see a transfer and the last few games we have transferred. We played well – especially on the defensive side – and it shows. We just have to keep it up. ”
The Nets (13-8) have won eight of their last ten to jump Milwaukee to second place in the East.
Nash testified with his rotations, which gave Harden only his second career lead, and that Bruce Brown, the defensive attitude, hampered the knee-jerk reaction for Shaw Gilgeous-Alexander. It all came up aces.
The Nets dropped five straight against OKC, but paid back for an earlier season at Barclays Center on January 10th.
“They came to Brooklyn and blew us out, so we have something to prove,” Brown said. He had 19 points on 9-for-11 shooting with five rebounds. ‘We just communicated on the floor. We were all on a leash. We knew what we wanted to do, and tried to limit Shai’s touch. We knew the game plan and stuck to it. ”
The Nets trailed 19-18 after an Al Horford three-pointer with 4:43 left in the first quarter. It was then that they rounded out an extended run of 33-8, keeping OKC without a bucket for 8:08 spanning the first and second quarters.
The Nets missed straight seven times and forced four turnovers during that span, and they took full control and never gave it back.
The Nets scored the first 15 unanswered points to open the second quarter. Jeff Green’s strong drive from a Harden feed makes it 51-27 with 8:53 left in the half.
By the time Luguentz Dort cracked the slide, the match was over.
The Nets’ cushion was 76-59 at halftime, the second most they scored in a first half in their Brooklyn era. And their 115-94 lead in the fourth quarter was their second-largest in three in team history, behind the 120 they hung on San Antonio on March 6, 2020.
Brown’s alley from Chris Chiozza with 1:39 left blocked the cushion to 145-120.
“We are slowly sinking on both sides of the floor,” Nash said. “We have struggled defensively at times, but we are getting defensive with our game plan, which is important. Offensively, you start to see a little more flow. ‘
‘We’re going to be challenged every night. We are going to get everyone’s best chance, ”said Irving. “But what we are doing now is just finding a continuity to harness the strengths we have.”