The Nets have won 10 games in a row. Tonight’s win, a tight 108-107 victory against a short-handed Atlanta Hawks team who were without Trae Young, Clint Capela and supporting cast players, was too close for comfort. But the win streak continues. Via the New York Daily News:
“[Winning 10 in a row] sounds good, especially since there’s just been an up and down vibe with our team the past few years,” Kevin Durant said postgame. “So it’s good to win a game and have some fun.”
The Hawks built a 15-point second-quarter lead in part due to Jacque Vaughn’s first truly confusing move since taking Steve Nash’s post as head coach in Brooklyn. His rotations have traditionally been tight, even tighter when it comes to the two superstars: Durant normally plays the entire first quarter, while Kyrie Irving traditionally sits the final few minutes of the first to lead the reserves in the second quarter while Durant gets a rest.
On Wednesday, Vaughn veered from the norm. He played both Irving and Durant the entire opening period — and sat both of Brooklyn’s stars to start the second quarter.
Of course the Hawks went on a run and built a lead five points shy of 20. Vaughn had a lineup of Patty Mills, Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Yuta Watanabe and T.J. Warren on the floor until taking a timeout at the 5:25 mark of the second quarter.
Via the New York Post:
Kyrie Irving had a team-high 28 points while Kevin Durant added 26. The pair combined to double Hawks star Dejounte Murray — who had 24 — into the fateful, final miss at the buzzer, preserving the rally.
“They’re playing great basketball and as I said to the team, they’re hot as a firecracker,” Atlanta coach Nate McMillan had warned. “They have of course, Kyrie and Durant that are elite players; but the supporting cast is playing really good basketball, shooting the ball extremely well from the floor.
“They’re playing a lot of guys, they have a lot of dangerous guys that are playing off of those guys. So they’re playing, I think they’re becoming the team that a lot of people thought they would be. And right now they’re playing the hottest team.”
