Kevin Durant and James Harden shared a deep laugh on the sidelines after the Nets thorough disheveling of the Pacers, 130-113 in Indiana on Thursday.
Durant had a quarter of the ages and by the time he exited with two minutes to go in the third, he already ran up 34 points and eight assists with only five missed shots and one turnover. He finished the Pacers off in the fourth with 42 points and 10 assists in 36 minutes. It was Durant’s most impressive performance of the season in a year truncated by injury and COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Durant carried the Nets to their 43rd win in 63 games without Kyrie Irving (groin) and James Harden (hamstring). They are 23 games over .500 for just the second time in franchise history.
“Regardless of who’s playing, we foster a belief in connectivity and competition,” Steve Nash said. “Win or lose, we are trying to get better and we are trying to compete and trying to connect and improve our level of play our through that connectivity and competition. So, all the technical stuff comes along with it but those are the fundamentals.”
Durant had an assist from Alize Johnson, who put up 20 points and 20 rebounds for the first Nets’ 20-20 game since Enes Kanter in Nov. 2018.
The Nets were up 20. They warded off Indiana’s flurry of come-from-behind rally efforts, absorbed a huge night from Caris LeVert and seized control, or at least they thought they had. The Pacers had another flurry in them, and this one was close.
The Nets led by as many as 23 but watched in the fourth quarter as the Pacers cut the lead down to as little as seven. That’s when Durant settled the team and made a pull-up jumper to turn the momentum.
Durant scored 22 points in the third quarter, but his eight in the fourth were imperative. As the Pacers rallied once again, Durant hit a pair of shots and dished a pair of dimes to keep Indiana at bay.
The Nets don’t get much time to rest. They face a back-to-back on Friday against Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers. Nash said he preferred Durant not play two games in two nights and expected Irving to return on Friday.
