Nets work overtime to defeat tough young Hawks

The Nets faced a tough uphill climb against the young Hawks, who got an assist from an officiating crew that sent them to the foul line repeatedly, but the Nets rallied in overtime to pull out a 132-128 victory Wednesday night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

Down by seven early in the fourth quarter and with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving sitting on the bench, the Nets put together a 16-4 run to take a 99-95 lead on a James Harden three with 7:55 left to play. Until that point, the Nets had just four bench points, but they got 11 from the reserves in that span.

"It was a total team effort," Irving said. We’re only as great as we all execute, and the bench gave us a lot of energy and even took the lead. Give them credit. That was a good Hawks team. We could have folded, but the bench kept us in it and had that mindset to fight."

Durant and Irving returned to join Harden with the Nets still holding a two-point lead, but the lead would change hands four times before Cam Reddish scored on a short floater to tie it at 116 with 28.6 seconds left before Harden missed a step-back three for the win to send the game to overtime.

The Nets opened the overtime with a 13-7 run that was fueled by steals by Joe Harris and Jeff Green to take a 129-123 lead with 1:25 left on a Durant jam. DeAndre Hunter missed a potential tying three-pointer for the Hawks with 30.2 seconds to go. Durant missed a three, but Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot grabbed the rebound to set up the clinching free throws by Harden with 4.6 seconds left for a 131-126 lead.

Durant led the Nets (12-8) with 32 points, Harden added 31 plus eight rebounds and 15 assists, Irving had 26 points and they got a boost from the bench with 12 from Bruce Brown and 11 from Jeff Green. The Hawks (9-9) were topped by Trae Young with 28 points, 24 from Reddish and 21 each from DeAndre Hunter and John Collins. They also had a 25-for-28 effort at the foul line.

Reflecting on the lift the Nets got from their bench in the fourth period and overtime, Nets coach Steve Nash said, "Bruce was huge. He made some great plays. We put him in the pick-and-roll and I thought he did a great job of getting down the lane finishing and keeping the floor spaced and enabling us to get the right matchup in the pick-and-roll.

"But his energy, his defense and rebounding was huge and Jeff obviously had a great night as well. The second unit held it down for a while and we could steal a few minutes for Kevin and Ky."

The game was tied at 55 at halftime. At that point the Nets had a mere two bench points courtesy of a Brown layup with 40 seconds to go before the break. The third period ended with the Hawks holding an 87-83 edge, but the difference clearly was at the foul line, where the Hawks were 22 of 24 compared to 8 of 10 by the Nets, which was a source of obvious frustration. But the Nets turned everything around in the fourth period on a night when the Big 3 combined for 89 points but still got a much-needed bench boost.

"We just gutted it out," Nash said. "Made enough baskets, made enough hustle plays, enough rebounds just to get us over the line. It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way and we’ll take it."

Nash also lauded Harden’s playmaking down the stretch, saying, "I think he’s getting comfortable with his surroundings. If tonight is any indication, he’s going to have a huge influence on our team and make other players better."

By Greg Logan

Gregory.Logan@newsday.comGregLogan1

Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.