Nets, minus Kyrie Irving, romp past Golden State with 91-point first half

It is not how you start but how you finish.

All things being equal, though, the Nets didn’t mind getting off to a good start and finishing strong. Even being short-handed.

Kyrie Irving missed Wednesday’s 143-113 rout of Golden State with what Jacque Vaughn called “tightness” in his right calf during the coach’s late-afternoon news conference at Barclays Center.

According to Vaughn, Irving complained of discomfort following pregame shooting and was getting “checked out a little bit” by the team’s medical staff. About 50 minutes before tipoff the Nets announced through the team’s public relations Twitter account that the decision was made to sit Irving.

During his postgame news conference, Vaughn said he didn’t have an update on Irving, who will be reassessed by the team’s medical staff Thursday in order to determine if he can play in Friday night’s game against the Bucks.  

Irving, who watched the game from the bench, was replaced in the starting lineup by Joe Harris. The remaining starters were Ben Simmons, Kevin Durant, Royce O’Neale, and Nic Claxton. 

Durant was one of nine Nets to finish in double-figure scoring with 23, 21 of which came in the first half. Edmond Sumner had 16, O’Neale finished with 14, Patty Mills contributed 13, Seth Curry and T.J. Warren  added 12 points off the bench, Harris poured in 11, Claxton and Simmons had 10 points. 

“That’s what basketball is to me: Guys sharing the ball, us getting the best shot we can every time down,” Simmons said. “Trusting each other.”

In the 14 games Irving has played post-suspension, he hasn’t scored fewer than 14 points, and is coming off a 38-point performance against the Pistons on Sunday.  

Normally it would not be a net positive to take on the defending NBA champions without one of the most skilled players in the league. But in this case, the timing could not have worked out better for the Nets (20-12) as the Warriors (15-18) were without Stephen Curry (left shoulder subluxation) and Andrew Wiggins (right adductor strain) due to injuries, and Steve Kerr decided to give Klay Thompson the night off since Golden State was coming off a 132-94 blowout loss to the Knicks Tuesday night. 

Against the Nets, the Golden State starting lineup was comprised of Jordan Poole, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney. Reserve center James Wiseman led Golden State with 30 points.

“It's [Golden State],” Durant said. “You always respect them no matter who is on the floor. They have a championship system, championship players.”

The Nets led 23-10 exactly five minutes into the game, and 46-17 at the end of the first quarter. Which had to please Vaughn, who had expressed concern about his team’s suboptimal starts against the Raptors and Pistons. The Nets had fallen behind by 18 and 17 points, respectively, in those games before storming back to win.  

The 46 points was a season-high for points in the first quarter and for points in any quarter. By halftime, the Nets led by 40, 91-51. The 91 points was a franchise-high for points in any half, and the third-most points scored in a half in league history. Phoenix scored 107 points in a half against Denver on Nov. 10, 1990, and Golden State had tallied 92 against Chicago on Oct. 29, 2018.

“We did a good job staying focused at the start,” Durant said.