James Harden put up 30 points, 15 assists and 14 rebounds to help lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 124-113 overtime victory over the Spurs, as it was their first regular-season win in San Antonio since 2002, back when Jason Kidd was still leading this franchise.
Harden also had zero turnovers in this one, becoming the first player to put up a 30+ point, 15+ assist and 10+ rebound triple-double without giving up the ball once since the 1977-78 season.
“Honestly, I just try to find ways to impact the game and not just scoring the basketball,” Harden said. “We have a number of guys that can put the ball in the basket. Just being a distributor of getting guys shots, getting guys easy buckets.”
“I feel like it’s my job. Just playing the game right way, not forcing anything, trying to make the right play, trying to get guys shots. That’s kind of my mindset every single game and it’s been working.”
Harden has thrived in his new role on the Nets, as he has brought the best out of each and every one of his teammates by looking for them in spots where they can do the most damage.
Brooklyn was up by 10 points with a little over two minutes left in the fourth quarter, but poor execution and defensive lapses allowed San Antonio to close out regulation with a 10-0 run to tie things up at 108-108.
Kyrie Irving, who finished with 27 points, seven assists and six rebounds, surprisingly blew an easy layup attempt that would’ve put the Nets up by four with around five seconds left in regulation after blowing past multiple Spurs defenders on the drive to the rim. When Irving gets that type of look at the rim, you just never expect him to miss that. The Monstars of San Antonio definitely sapped him of his talent at that moment just to try to help the Spurs keep their long-standing home winning-streak over the Nets alive.
Dejounte Murray then proceeded to grab the rebound and race up the floor, but lost control of the ball just past the half-court line and scrambled on the deck to keep the possession alive. Murray somehow recovered and got the pull-up jumper just inside the 3-point line to go down with tenths of a second left on the game clock. It’s almost like the Monstars gave Irving’s talent to Murray.
Irving, however, regained his talent and more than made up for his missed layup attempt towards the end of regulation, as he helped manufacture nine of Brooklyn’s first 11 points in the extra period with two 3-pointers and an assist, which ultimately gave the Nets all the momentum they needed to finally get a win in the Alamo City. The last time the Nets won in San Antonio, the West Orange, N.J. native was two months shy of his 10th birthday!
“San Antonio is definitely one of those great teams that we can learn from, and will continue to do so with Pop at the helm,” Irving said.
The Spurs are a model franchise and Gregg Popovich is arguably the greatest coach of all-time, having won five championships in a 15-year span, so if there is a team every other team can learn from, it’s the Spurs.
DeMar DeRozan had 22 points, 11 assists and six rebounds for the Spurs. Murray added 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Lonnie Walker IV contributed 19 points of his own.
Young guys step up
Bruce Brown continues his recent hot streak, as the 6-foot-4 guard scored 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field. 90 percent of Brown’s made field goals were assisted, as the Miami product was great at getting open and filling the lanes for easy buckets inside. Brown came up big within the first 30 seconds of the final two minutes of overtime, as he sucked in the Spurs’ defense following a drive down the middle to kick it to Irving in the left corner for the three to double their lead to six, and on the Nets’ following possession, he hit the floater inside the paint to help put the Spurs away.
Nicolas Claxton looked excellent in this one, as the 21-year-old put in a career-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in a little over 17 minutes of game action. Claxton showed his ability to finish off alley-oops and his ability to put the ball in the basket with his soft touch around the rim. Claxton also showed off his speed in transition as he chased down DeRozan who was way ahead of the 6-foot-11 forward for the block from behind to prevent him from getting the layup to go down.
Irving, DeRozan embrace prior to the game
Irving approached DeRozan, who recently lost his father, and gave him a long hug prior to the game.
That was as authentic of an embrace you’ll ever see. You can tell that Irving really wanted to let DeRozan know that his thoughts are with him. Irving continues to show that he has a heart of gold.
Our thoughts go out to DeRozan and all of his loved ones during this difficult time.
