When asked which Nets star faced the greatest threat to his team, Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said he feared them all. He was right to dread the scary hours.
The Big Three led the Nets to a 132-128 recovery win in overtime in Atlanta. And what they didn’t do, reservation that Jeff Green and Bruce Brown did.
“We just destroyed it. They were just fine margins, they made enough baskets, enough luck and rebounds, just to get us over the line, ”said coach Steve Nash. “It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way. We will take. “
Kevin Durant had the best game score, 32 points. Kyrie Irving added 26 points and seven assists, while James Harden seems more aggressive in putting himself in better shape and feeling more comfortable with his teammates.
Harden – who said it would be scary hours when the Big Three were in sync – had 31 points, 15 assists and eight hits.
“It is who he is. We just want him to join this group and not think so much about fitting in, but just being who he is. We want him to continue to progress and grow, ”said Irving. “We all realize that we still have a level to reach individually and then collectively as a group.”
The Nets (12-8) are constantly advancing to that level. They recovered from a 90-83 hole in the fourth quarter to win for the seventh time in the last nine.
“Only [proud of] our fight. Obviously, throughout the game, there are races that you need to be able to resist. We just want to remain resilient, ”said Irving. “Just being relentless to continue to weather the storm throughout the game, no matter what is going on, whether you get it right or not. It’s definitely what I’m most proud of. “
Trae Young scored 28 points for the Hawks (9-9), but the Nets bench and the team’s defense, who – both defamed – had enough moves to improve to 5-2 since Harden’s acquisition. It was the perfect way to start a difficult stretch with 10 of 13 on the road.
“It’s huge, especially when dealing with business,” said Green. “The transfer from the last game – as I said – was there. We showed resilience and fought throughout the game when things were not going well. But we show character and that is what it will cost us on the road. “
Joe Harris was left without a 3-point basket for the first time in 79 games. But he defended well, while Green and Brown supported the Big Three. Brown scored 10 points in the fourth period to help the Nets get back into the game.
Losing 90-83 in the quarter after Danilo Gallinari 3, the Nets responded with a 9-0 run.
A Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot 3 followed by free throws by Harden damaged the handicap. Harden’s faceless pass gave Brown a couple of free throws to tie him up, and he found Green for a John Collins poster (21 points) to make 92-90.
The rest of the regulation was tight, before Harden missed a step back 3 in the final seconds. Brown took Collins’ ball with 0.3 seconds to preserve overtime, where the Nets won.
“When we needed stops, we got stops, especially that unit in the fourth quarter with Bruce and Joe and Jeff and TLC did an incredible job of being aggressive, hitting the ball, creating energy,” said Harden. “That was the turning point.”
After he was turned over, the Nets never let him return. Irving placed them on the board first in OT with a wobbly step, and a robbery from Harris led to Green’s transition dunk and 120-116 advantage that they never yielded.
Young pulled the Hawks in 122-121, but after Harden hit Green for a 3, the Nets went back up by four. Then Green’s theft triggered a quick attack dunk by Durant and a 127-121 lead with 2:46 to play.
On 129-126, Durant’s rotation gave Atlanta a chance; but the Nets stopped when they needed to. They forced a De’Andre Hunter (21 points) who lost 3 points, and they grabbed the key rebound with half a minute to go.
Harden won a trip to the line and froze with 4.6 seconds remaining.