When asked which Nets star had the biggest threat to his team, Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said he feared all of them. He was right to fear Scary Hours.
The Big Three led the Nets to a 132-128 overtime victory in Atlanta. And what they didn’t, Jeff Green and Bruce Brown reserved.
‘We just took it out. They were just fine margins, made enough baskets, made enough fuss, enough rebounds, just to get us over the line, ”said coach Steve Nash. ‘It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way. We’ll take it. “
Kevin Durant had 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 more comfort with his teammates.
Harden – who said it would be Scary Hours with the Big Three in sync – 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 belonging, but just be who he is. We want him to continue and grow, ”said Irving. “We all realize that we still have a level to achieve individually and then collectively as a group.”
The Nets (12-8) are steadily moving towards that level. They rallied from a 90-83 hole in the fourth quarter to win for the seventh time in their last nine.
“Only [proud of] our struggle. Obviously, there are runs throughout the game that you just have to be able to resist. We just want to stay resilient, ”said Irving. “Just having a relentlessness to weather the storm throughout the game, no matter what’s going on, take shots or not. That is definitely what I am most proud of. “
Trae Young had 28 points for the Hawks (9-9), but the bench of the Nets and the team defense who – both maligned – came up with just enough moves to improve to 5-2 since taking over from Harden. It was the perfect way to start a rough stretch with 10 out of 13 on the road.
“It’s huge, especially when we handled cases,” Green said. “The transfer from the previous game – as I said – was there. We showed resilience and fought the entire game if it didn’t go well. But we showed character, and that’s what we need along the way. “
Joe Harris was held without a 3-pointer for the first time in 79 games. But he defended well, while Green and Brown supported the Big Three. Brown had 10 points in the fourth quarter to put the Nets back in the game.
Down from 90-83 in the fourth after a Danilo Gallinari 3, the Nets responded with a 9-0 point.
A Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot 3 followed by Harden free throws cut the deficit. Harden’s no-look pass gave Brown a few free throws to tie it up, and he found Green for a posterization of John Collins (21 points) to make it 92-90.
The rest of the regulations were tight, before Harden missed a step back 3 in the final seconds. Brown poked the ball away from Collins by 0.3 seconds to keep overtime where the Nets won.
“When we needed stops, we got stops, especially that fourth quarter unit with Bruce and Joe and Jeff and TLC did incredibly well just being snappy, hitting the ball back and creating energy,” said Harden. “That was the turning point.”
After it was flipped, the Nets never let it roll back. Irving put them on the board first in OT with a stuttering step, and a Harris theft led to a Green transition dunk and 120-116 lead that they never gave up.
Young pulled the Hawks in 122-121, but after Harden hit Green for a 3, the Nets were back to fourth. Then Green’s stealing led to a Durant fast-break dunk and 127-121 edge with 2:46 to play.
With sales of 129-126, Durant’s sales gave Atlanta a chance; but the nets stopped when they needed it. They forced a De’Andre Hunter (21 points) missed 3-pointer, and they grabbed the key rebound with half a minute to go.
Harden earned a trip to the line and froze it with 4.6 seconds to go.