The Brooklyn Nets improved to 5-3 with a third straight victory, this time over a fellow contender in the Atlanta Hawks. The Nets now hold the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference, though the Washington Wizards and New York Knicks share the same record. Still, it's clear Brooklyn is starting to hit its stride, so let's look at some key takeaways from this win over a Hawks team that made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

3 takeaways from Nets' victory over Hawks

3) The team contained the electric Trae Young

Hawks superstar Trae Young finished with 21 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. One board shy of a triple-double is a good game, but the Nets did a terrific job making him work for every bucket in this one.

‘Trae Young is dangerous in that pick-and-roll,” said Kevin Durant postgame. “I thought we did a solid job of just playing him tough all night, making him shoot over guys, 6-for-22, almost had a triple-double but, 6-for-22 … 22 (shots) to get 21 (points) from their best player, we can live with that. …We was able to get us a good (win).”

KD finished the thought with some movie-quality foreshadowing.

“And I’m sure we’ll see this team again,” said KD.

One didn't get the impression he was simply referring to the Dec. 10 rematch, since that bout is a given.

Hawks wing De'Andre Hunter did have a breakout game. He shot a ludicrous 6-of-6 from downtown finishing with an even zanier 10-of-11 from the field for a 26 highly efficient points. Finally healthy following a knee issue that plagued him during last year's playoffs, Hunter looks like he's going to be a terrific player for Atlanta on both ends of the floor.

But like Durant said, the Nets slowed down Young enough so that they could live with this outburst from the 23-year-old out of Virginia.

Following the game, Nets coach Steve Nash said that while James Harden made a couple of defensive errors in the first half, they reviewed the film at the break and that led to a big turnaround for the 2018 MVP.

2) 22 made triples

Over the course of the season, Steve Nash has reassured fans that the shooting variance pendulum would swing back the other way. There have been plenty of games where players like Joe Harris and Blake Griffin simply were not knocking down good looks. At other times, James Harden was frosty as well.

The Nets got some scorching-hot regression on Wednesday with 22 made triples. Harris, the team's all-time leader in made 3s, was 6-of-8. Patty Mills was 4-of-7. The Beard got cooking at one point with a pair of step-backs that left him with a bounce in his step. Harden finished 5-of-11 from Fulton Street. Even midrange assassin LaMarcus Aldridge got into the act by nailing 2-of-4.

The Nets' Achilles' heel is rebounding and they got beat on the glass, 52-42. But their shooting made life too hard on Nate McMillan's gang.

Harden described what Nash called a “tale of two halves” for The Beard. What worked for him in this one?

“Just reading the game, reading the game. Not trying to force anything,” said Harden. “Early, everybody had it going. I tried to take a couple shots when I could, but for the most part I was trying to get in the paint and guys had it going.”

Harden finished with 16 points, 11 assists, and four rebounds.

“Second half,” Harden continued, “same thing, getting into the paint, I felt like especially in that third quarter being aggressive and they collapsed and I kicked out to shooters. Blake (Griffin) a few times, swing, swing and every time it’s a good shot.”

Here's some of what he's referring to. Swing, swing, swish.

After the game, Harris had a funny self-deprecating admission. He described how teams like to “hide” their weakest defender on him; in this case that was Young. As a counter to that strategy, the Nets will try to make Joey Buckets' defender work extra hard.

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Here's what Harris said:

1) Having the best player on the planet doesn't hurt

Finally, one “key” to victory is simply having KD. Durant finished with 32 points, five dimes, seven boards, one block and one steal. It only took him 20 field goal attempts to crack 30. There wasn't much Atlanta could do with his pull-up and transition game. The Barclays Center faithful serenaded him with some MVP chants.

At times this season, it has felt like every shot Durant takes is going in. He's seeing the floor and making plays for teammates. He's picking his spots as a scorer. He's the first to run over and hype up Harden after a four-point play. He's one of the group's most reliable defenders. In short, he has lived up to the considerable hype and is the team's unquestioned leader. It's early still, but there are worse bets for 2022 MVP than Kevin Durant.

There's no rest for the weary. While ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski offers some details about the Kyrie Irving situation, the available players will focus on a looming six-game road trip.

Next up, a rematch with the Detroit Pistons.