The Brooklyn Nets are a winning basketball team.
Brooklyn improved to 12-11 on the season by beating the Washington Wizards for the second time this season. The Nets are now on a three-game winning streak, undefeated, and he has started a seven-game homestand. Additionally, Brooklyn is officially 10-6. This is because Jack Vaughan took over as head coach after his dismal 2-5 start to the season.
“Something to celebrate,” Kyrie Irving said of the Nets finally crossing .500. “Something that can never be taken for granted. A lot of hard work to get to this point. A whole team effort.”
Kevin Durant again led the Nets’ pack with 39 points on 13-of-20 shooting, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. This is his fourth straight game in which Durant has recorded at least his 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Kyrie Irving also had 27 points and five assists on 9-of-21 shooting. His fourth-quarter scoring was big for the Nets, who built a 9-point advantage over KD on the bench.
“I’m just playing carefree basketball. I mean, I think that’s the best way to play. When you want to win, sometimes things don’t go your way. You care too much,” Kevin Durant said. “I’m trying to mentally transcend everything and continue to smash all my possessions. Every rep means something to me, so I have to stick to it.”
“The ball still doesn’t hit the rim as often as I thought it would,” Irving said of his performance. “Twenty-one attempts, you know, I’d like to reduce that to 9 out of 12 or 9 out of 13. We’re going to be efficient with the chances we get and still be aggressive.”
Joe Harris had another solid run after scoring a season-high 17 points against the Magic. He scored 14 from a deep 4-for-6 position and scored his huge 3-pointer with his 3 minutes remaining to help the Nets cross the finish line. Harris also stole three times.
“He came in tonight and he was able to fly with confidence and play great defensively,” Durant said of Harris. “You know, defense is tied to offense, so when the stop is on, you can get out and run and get an easy bucket. I’m sure I’ll keep shooting with it.”
Washington was led by three monsters, Kyle Kuzma (25 points), Brad Beal (25 points) and Kristaps Porzingis (27 points).
Unsurprisingly, the Wizards took advantage of an undersized Nets without frontcourt players Ben Simmons (calf), Dalon Sharp (non-COVID illness) and Yuta Watanabe (hamstring). 35, and dominated in the paint, scoring 58 points against the Nets’ 32.
“Yeah, it’s always going to be an issue for us,” Vaughan said of the Nets rebounding. when they showed how they got their offensive rebounds in. We will continue to show our guys that it’s not just the mindset, but the ability to touch those possessions And sometimes you go up and think, “Okay, I can get this.” You might be better off just boxing it out and having someone else pick it up for you. So you can get into the habit of finding contact on every play. that will help us.
The Nets made up for the deficit by bombing away from three (42.3%). The Wizards’ free-throw shot (67.6% from the line) also played a big part in the result. Shout out to Mr. Whammy!
Durant picked up where he left off against Orlando. He dropped 16 points in the first quarter on 6/9 shooting. It was the most points scored by the Nets in the first quarter to start the season. Behind KD’s good start, the Nets led him 29-28 after the first quarter.
By the start of the second quarter, both teams were fairly close. The Nets turned to point guard Royce O’Neal, who responded with four early assists, and Harris also had his 3-of from the deep, including a beautiful catch-and-shoot after ghosting Durant’s screen. At -4 he scored 11 early his points. Brooklyn entered halftime with him narrowly trailing 57-53.
Porzingis scored six points in the first six minutes of play to lead the Wizards in third, and his Wizards eventually whittled away Brooklyn’s advantage. It was tied with 3 minutes free time. Kevin Durant then took over and in his last three minutes he scored eight points and he finished third, giving the Nets an 80-77 advantage and he advanced to fourth. .
Brooklyn finally extended their lead in the fourth. Kyrie Irving exploded 8-of-5, giving Brooklyn a 9-point margin of error. I was. In his final three minutes, O’Neal secured his two big offensive rebounds, both scoring his three, one from Irving and one from Harris, extending the Nets’ lead to 11. I was. , Brooklyn cruised to the finish line for their 12th win of the season.
milestone watch
Kevin Durant (39 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) has a career-best streak of 30/5/5 in each of his last four games. He previously posted his 30/5/5 in his four-game streak in December 2021, November 2018 and March 2016.
KD will have a chance to break the franchise record of five straight wins against the Raptors on Friday night. He is currently tied for the record. Longest 30+ points, 5+ rebounds, 5+ assists in franchise history:
- 4 straight – Kevin Durant – active
- 4 straight years – Kevin Durant – Dec 2021
- 4 in a row-James Harden-December 2021-January 2022
As spongebob says
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what’s next
The Nets stay home and host the Toronto Raptors on Friday at 7:30 p.m. EST. Brooklyn is 2-0 against Toronto in his series of the season. Coverage begins on the YES Network.
For another perspective on tonight’s game, bullets forevera sister site of Wizards.