It’s been a week for the Brooklyn Nets.
A week ago, Kevin Durant passed the 25,000 career point milestone, becoming just the 23rd player in NBA history to do so. At his current rate of 29.0 points per game for the season, Durant is on pace to pass both Jerry West (25,192) and Reggie Miller (25,279) before the end of the year and move into 21st place all-time. Durant is also third in total points among active players behind LeBron James (36,793) and Carmelo Anthony (28,157) while his career scoring average of 27.1 points per game leads all active players.
“I told him in the locker room, 25,000 points — you're a savant,” said Kyrie Irving after the Boston game last Sunday. “You are an artist, you have eclipsed history and he will forever be remembered as a legend in our game. I mean he's been doing it since he was 19 and there's a level of admiration I have for my best friend right there and he just does it in ways that makes it look easy. Even when he takes six weeks off he looks like he hasn't missed any time and that level of work ethic that he puts in it shows why he's as great as he is.”
Two nights later, it was Irving’s turn with one of the great scoring displays in NBA history. He put up 50 points in a win over Charlotte on 15-for-19 shooting (78.9 percent). It was the second-fewest field goal attempts in a 50-point game in NBA history and it made Irving the fifth player in NBA history to have at least two career games with 50 points while shooting 75 percent or better.
“Everything he does is pure,” said Durant. “It looked so easy tonight. I look up he had 10 points and it felt like he only took two shots in the first quarter and I told Seth (Curry), ‘I'm like, damn, I didn’t know he had it cooking like that.’ And I seen it in his eyes to start the game. You know he wanted to play better last game, so he came out here tonight and wanted to impact the game from the start. He led us all night, he hit big shots when we needed to. And it was just incredible, incredible performance. It’s something like…younger players, you should watch this game learn what it takes to score at that level. At 5-10, 5-11 for him to score that easy, that was just a masterclass.”
Then came Thursday night, a much-anticipated, post-trade collision with the 76ers in Philadelphia — where the Nets ran wild in taking control with 72 first-half points and eventually leading by as many as 32 points in a 129-100 win.
“We always had confidence in ourselves,” said Durant. “I wouldn’t say this game, it was one of those games that just built our confidence even more, this was just a regular game and we were excited that we came out here and executed the game plan. We’re going to need to do that going forward if we want to put ourselves in good position. It’s just another one on the schedule and we’re looking forward to the next one.”
Finally, on Sunday afternoon, the Nets made it three wins in a row with a 110-107 win over the Knicks at Barclays Center. That made it six straight wins against New York over the last two seasons and an 11-3 edge over the last four years.
Durant threw a bookend on a memorable week with 53 points, one shy of his career-high, and his second 50-point game of the season. Durant shot 19-for-37 and had nine assists and six rebounds.
With the Nets trailing 73-71 midway through the third quarter, Durant scored Brooklyn’s next seven points to push the Nets back in the lead. They stretched the advantage as Bruce Brown scored eight straight — with three of the baskets coming off Durant assists — before Durant’s jumper made it an 88-79 lead.
In the final minute of the game, Durant broke a 103-103 tie with a go-ahead 3-pointer, then iced the game from the foul line.
“Kevin was unbelievable, obviously,” said Nets head coach Steve Nash. “Carried us. Made a lot of big plays. Rebounds, assists, the whole deal. He was Kevin Durant on full display but I think also you’ve got to tip your hat to all the other guys that did so many things out there. Andre (Drummond) had another big night. I thought Nic Claxton was great with his energy and defense. Bruce Brown continues his great play. (James Johnson) brought it and gave us minutes and Goran (Dragic) is just a soldier out there organizing us and doing all those little things. I could go on but it’s a team win and Kevin carried us in a lot of ways but without those other guys, it’s not happening.”
With 18 points and 10 rebounds — making all eight of his field goal attempts — Drummond posted his fourth double-double in 11 games as a Net.
“I feel like when Drum simplifies the game, he’s a force,” said Durant. “He’s rolling to the rim, rebounding our misses, running the floor, defending like he did, protecting the rim, he has nights like this easily. Double-doubles for him. He can do that in his sleep. It’s all about staying focused and asking his teammates to put him in good conditions to be successful.”
Brown slid into the starting lineup shortly before the All-Star break and in those 12 consecutive starts going into Sunday’s game was averaging 13.7 points on 53.9 percent shooting, making him Brooklyn’s fourth-leading scorer during that stretch. He had also made 46.2 percent of his 3-pointers on 2.2 attempts per game with both numbers representing big jumps on his rates for the full season. The 6-foot-4 guard has also continued to play big on the boards with 5.7 rebounds per game.
Against the Knicks, Brown had 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting with seven rebounds and five assists.
“Bruce has been great. Locked in defensively,” said Nash. “We’ve pushed him to find his identity down there. He’s been really solid with the game plan. Pitches in with 15 points, five assists, seven rebounds, two steals. It’s just winning basketball plays he makes over and over. Love his competitiveness, his spirit, and defensively he’s really locked in.”
With all those contributions, the Nets hung on for the win.
“I thought the guys found a way,” said Nash. “I think we missed three or our last 26 threes. Find a way to win when you can’t make a three it’s always a good win. So we didn’t have our best stuff today. We didn’t make shots but we found a way to hold them to what was it, 47 in the second half. Proud of the effort, proud of the mentality to stick with it even when things weren’t easy.”