[ad_1]
When asked which Nets star faces the greatest threat to his team, Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said he was afraid of everyone. He was right to fear the frightening hours.
The Big Three led the Nets to a 132-128 overtime victory in Atlanta. And what they didn’t do, Jeff Green and Bruce Brown reserve.
“We just emptied it. It was just nice margins, made enough baskets, made enough rough plays, enough rebounds, just to get us over the line, ”said coach Steve Nash. “It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way. We will take it. “
Kevin Durant had a high of 32 points. Kyrie Irving added 26 points and seven assists, while James Harden has looked more aggressive as he plays in better form and comfort with his teammates.
Harden – who said it would be scary hours once the Big Three were in sync – had 31 points, 15 assists and eight tables.
“That’s who he is. We just want him to come into this group and not think so much about fitting in, but just who he is. We want him to continue to progress and grow, ”Irving said. “We all know that we still have a level to reach individually and then collectively as a group.”
The Nets (12-8) progress steadily towards this level. They rallied from a 90-83 fourth quarter hole to win for the seventh time in their last nine.
“Fair [proud of] our fight. Obviously throughout the game there are races that you need to be able to endure. We just want to stay resilient, ”Irving said. “Just having a relentlessness to keep weathering the storm throughout the game no matter what happens, take shots or not. This is certainly what I am most proud of.
Trae Young had 28 points for the Hawks (9-9), but the bench and Nets defense who – both maligned – have provided just enough play to move to 5-2 since Harden’s acquisition . It was the perfect way to start a tough stretch with 10 out of 13 on the road.
“It’s huge, especially when we’re going about business,” Green said. “The transfer from the last game – as I mentioned – was there. We were resilient and we fought the whole game when things weren’t going the way we wanted them to. But we showed character, and that’s what we’ll need on the road.
Joe Harris was held without 3 points for the first time in 79 games. But he defended well, while Green and Brown backed the Big Three. Brown had 10 points in the fourth quarter to help the Nets come back into the game.
Down 90-83 in fourth after a Danilo Gallinari 3, the Nets responded with a 9-0 run.
A Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot 3 followed by Harden free throws reduced the deficit. Harden’s blind pass gave Brown a pair of free throws to tie it off, and he found Green for a posterization of John Collins (21 points) to reach 92-90.
The rest of the rule was tight, before Harden missed a step back 3 in the final seconds. Brown pushed the ball away from Collins with 0.3 seconds to preserve overtime, where the Nets won it.
“When we needed saves we got saves, especially this unit in the fourth quarter with Bruce and Joe and Jeff and TLC did an amazing job of just being fiery, bouncing the ball, building energy.” , said Harden. “It was the turning point.”
Once he was shot, the Nets never let him turn around. Irving put them on the board first in OT with a stuttering step, and a Harris steal led to a green transition dunk and a 120-116 lead they never gave up.
Young shot the Hawks in 122-121, but after Harden hit Green for a 3, the Nets fell four. Then Green’s steal triggered a quick dunk from Durant and a 127-121 lead with 2:46 left.
At 129-126, Durant’s turnover gave Atlanta a chance; but the Nets were able to stop when they needed it. They forced a De’Andre Hunter (21 points) missed 3 points, and they grabbed the key rebound with half a minute to go.
Harden won a trip to the line and froze it with 4.6 seconds left.
[ad_2]
Source link