Asked which Nets star faces the biggest threat to his team, Falcons coach Lloyd Pierce said he was afraid of everyone. He seemed to fear Scary Hours.
The Big Three led the Nets to a 132-128 overtime victory in Atlanta. And what they did not do, Jeff Green and Bruce Brown retain.
“It simply came to our notice then. “It was just good margins, made enough baskets, made enough pressure, made enough rebounds, just to get us over the line,” said coach Steve Nash. “It was not pretty, but we found a way. We’ll take it. ”
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points. Kyrie Irving added 26 points and seven assists, while James Harden looked more aggressive as he played himself in better form and comfort with his teammates.
Harden – who said it would be Scary Hours once the Big Three syncs – had 31 points, 15 assists and eight boards.
“That’s who he is. We just want him to get into this group and not think so much about fitting in, but just be who he is. We want him to keep growing and growing, ”said Irving. “All of us realize that we still have a level to reach individually and then as a group.”
The Nets (12-8) are gradually advancing to that level. They won a 90-83 hole in the fourth quarter and won for the seventh time in their last nine.
“Only [proud of] our struggle. Clearly, there are runs throughout the game that you need to be able to resist. We just want to stay resilient, ”said Irving. ‘Just a relentlessness to continue the storm throughout the game, no matter what goes on, make shots or not. This is definitely what I am most proud of. ”
Trae Young had 28 points for the Hawks (9-9), but the Nets bench and the team defense, who both thought badly, came up with just enough plays to improve to 5-2 since their Harden obtained. It was the perfect way to start a rough track with 10 of 13 on the road.
“It’s big, especially if we’ve done business,” Green said. ‘The transfer of the last game – as I spoke – was there. We showed resilience and fought the whole game when things did not go our way. But we showed character, and that’s what it’s going to take for us along the way. ”
Joe Harris was held for the first time in 79 games without a 3-pointer. But he defended well, while Green and Brown backed the Big Three. Brown had 10 points in the fourth quarter to help the Nets climb back into the game.
The Nets responded 90-83 in a fourth position to a Danilo Gallinari 3, with a 9-0 run.
A Timothe Luwawu Cabarrot 3 followed by Harden free kicks cut into the backcourt. With Harden’s pass not looking, Brown gave up some free throws to tie it, and he found Green for John Collins’ poster (21 points) to make it 92-90.
The rest of the regulations were strict, before Harden missed a setback 3 in the final seconds. Brown hid the ball with 0.3 seconds from Collins to retain overtime, where the Nets won it.
“When we needed stops, we came to a standstill, especially the unit in the fourth quarter with Bruce and Joe and Jeff and TLC did an incredible job of just being nasty, hitting the ball back, creating energy,” he said. Harden said. “That was the turning point.”
After it was spun, the Nets never made it spin again. Irving put them first on the board in OT with a stammer, and a Harris steal resulted in a green transition dunk and 120-116 lead that they never gave up.
Young drew the Hawks within 122-121, but after Harden Green struck for a try, the Nets were back with four. Then Green’s steal resulted in a quick hit from Durant and a 127-121 lead with 2:46 to play.
At 129-126, Durant’s turnover did give Atlanta a chance; but the Nets stop when they need it. They forced a De’Andre Hunter (21 points) to miss a 3-pointer, and they grabbed the key rebound by half a minute.
Harden earned a ride to the line and overtook it by 4.6 seconds.