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It wasn't pretty. But the end result was what they came for. The Brooklyn Nets built up a 16 point lead in Detroit and appeared in control, then allowed a young Detroit Pistons squad to chisel the lead down to one with minutes remaining. But Kevin Durant continued his MVP campaign and landed the plane.
Durant finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Brooklyn left with a 96-90 win, nabbing the first of a six-game road trip. They improve to 6-3.
While James Harden recorded his second triple-double of the year he didn't appear comfortable in this one at all. A few games ago he broke out against the same opponent by getting to the line for 19 (!) free throw attempts and a season-high 29 points. Friday's rematch felt like a far cry from that one for the nine-time All-Star.
The Beard was taking a lot of contact. He hit the deck a few times, had a lapse in focus, and just didn't look sharp. At one point he had a lengthy discussion with officials. Some games he's just not going to get many foul calls it seems.
His final line was 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. But he also had 9 turnovers and shot just 3-of-10 from the floor.
Harden was already a big topic of conversation around the league so far.
Per Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer:
“But Harden's slow start has drawn the attention of skeptical league personnel who wonder whether this is the beginning of the perennial MVP candidate's decline into more of a secondary All-Star.
Other observers believe Harden's conditioning is the main factor in his depressed stats.”
He'll look to bounce-back in Toronto tomorrow. Unless the team, which has been conservative with their stars' workloads in the past, decides to give James a night off.
The Nets won the rebounding battle in this one, 45-44. That has been a topic of focus ever since they allowed the Heat to grab 17 offensive boards and a road-win at Barclays Center.
Against Detroit, the Nets carried a 16 point lead into the 4th, up 78-62. Things appeared well in hand but the scrappy Pistons, led by number one overall pick Cade Cunningham, fought back. Cunningham dropped eight of his 17 points in a flurry during the game's final six minutes. After a barrage of triples by Cory Joseph and Cade, suddenly it was a one point game.
That's when KD (who was ejected for extending an elbow which hit Pistons' forward Kelly Olynyk in the face last time the teams met) continued to stake his claim at the world's best player.
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Below, showing off the patented Dirk Nowitzki one-legged dagger:
Kevin Durant closes in the clutch vs the Pistons. This man is amazing, just assess his ability. Iso buckets, coming off the down screen it don't matter because he's really unguardable. How do you see this and not understand who the best player on the planet is. pic.twitter.com/vUo7nqMaYs
— Tru LBanks (@Tru_LBanks) November 6, 2021
After the win, Kevin Durant showed up to the post-game conference with the Oklahoma product's jersey.
“I love Cade's game,” said KD. “I think he's gonna be a tough, tough cover for a long, long time. I got to know him when he was in high school so we built a little relationship. To play against him in the NBA is sweet.”
Asked about the keys to the big win, Durant talked about the Nets finding energy from each other since it wasn't coming from the crowd.
“You know when you’re getting stops, that makes up for a lot of different things,” said Kevin Durant. “We had to figure out where we were gonna get our energy from. Playing our last six games at home, so [if] we start missing four, five shots our crowd is you know, trying to get excited for us, but not here on the road. So we gotta figure out where we get that energy from and we got it from each other in that second half.”
Coach Steve Nash also remarked on the team's defensive effort. “I think our defense is ahead of our offense,” said the head coach, “which I don’t think anyone was predicting coming into the year.” Indeed, a final score of 96-90 looks more like a playoff score.
No rest for the weary. The team is in Toronto Saturday to tackle the 6-4 Raptors. Nets fans may get their first look at the flashy 4th overall pick in 2021, Scottie Barnes. It will be intriguing to see if Harden suits up or sees some of his first load-management in Toronto. He certainly looked like he could use a night off at times in Motor City.
