The Nets were happy to win, but unhappy with how they got it.
Brooklyn built a big lead on Wednesday night before letting the injury-ravaged Hornets mount a late comeback. The Nets turned a nail-biter they had to sweat out to escape 122-116 before 16,903 at Barclays Center.
“I agree with this statement [that] we took our foot off the gas pedal. But you have to respect them; they definitely came out [and] hit us in the mouth in the second half, Kyrie Irving said. “For us, it wasn’t just about the Charlotte Hornets, it was about establishing our defensive principles. We had a chance to do that and we gave up the lead. Such nights, you feel a great victory, but [not] how we won.”
Irving scored a game-high 33 points and dished out a season-high nine assists. Kevin Durant added 29 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in 36:28, and Brooklyn needed every one of those points and minutes.
“Overall, it was one of those games where we jumped ahead,” coach Jacques Vaughan said. “They’re an NBA team and a well-coached team, they’re going to keep fighting back and we just got a little loose and paid for it.
“The good thing is we have some really good players at the end of the game, we did that a lot. I love this part of it. But we got really comfortable and started letting them go where they wanted to go, to the rim and to the paint a lot of times.
At a glance, the Nets (14-12) are 5-1 in 7 games on the season and have won 8 of their last 11 games. with this.
Like building a 23-point cushion early in the third quarter, only to see it cut to one in the fourth quarter.
“I think it’s leaning more in that direction,” Vaughn said. “More LaMelo-less Charlotte Hornets [Ball]Without Dennis Smith Jr [Gordon] Hayward.
“We’ll go through this game and the good thing I told the team is that we feel good about winning the basketball game, but the overall feeling of the game, that we didn’t execute, that part feels good. did not feel But we’re 5-1 at home, we’ve got one more goal and I said to the team, let’s beat this home team 6-1.
Brooklyn saw Charlotte go up 113-112 and again 115-114 on Jalen McDaniels’ driving bank shot. That’s when the Nets needed Irving and Durant to keep bailing them out.
Durant hit a 26-footer with 1:47 left to play Irving.
With the score 118-116, Irving hit a pair at the line. Mason Plumlee drove to the line with a chance to cut the lead in half, but the 57.4 percent shooter missed both with 34.2 seconds left. Irving iced it on a 9-foot jumper with 13.7 seconds left in regulation.
Because the Nets are small and play, there won’t be too much time thanks to Durant and Irving running the pick-and-roll. Hornets coach Steve Clifford, who spent the past year as a Nets coaching consultant, said the only player he had more passion for than Durant was Kobe Bryant.
“It’s hard to fill those shoes and be Kobe Bryant. “But Kobe is someone I still look up to and I’ve tried to copy everything he’s done,” Durant said. “Same with Michael Jordan. Those two guys set the tone for everything I wanted to be as a basketball player, so I try to copy them as much as I can. I think it showed Cliff.
“I’m really excited to be around him. We talked a lot about the basketball game, so I’m sure he heard it, hear it in my voice, how much I love the dialogue about the game. That’s great to hear, man. I love Cliff.”
Kelly Oubre led Charlotte with 30 points.
Brooklyn used a 12-2 run, capped by Seth Curry’s 3-pointer, to turn a one-point lead into a 36-25 edge with a minute left in the first quarter.
Durant found Joe Harris for another 3-pointer with 1:19 left in the first half to make it 73-50. But any plans to rest Durant extensively went out the window in the second half.
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