Caris LeVert scores 26 to help Nets beat Suns for back-to-back wins

PHOENIX —  If it seems as though the Nets are showing signs of growing up, it might have something to do with the offseason moves general manager Sean Marks made to add proven depth and experience in the form of veterans Ed Davis, Shabazz Napier and Jared Dudley to the youthful core that is growing by leaps and bounds.

That combination of ingredients produced the Nets first back-to-back victories of the season with a second straight dominant defensive performance in a 104-82 throttling of the Suns Tuesday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The win improved the Nets’ record to 5-6, which is their best 11-game start since 2012-13 when they went 7-4.

Two days after containing 76ers stars Joel Embiid and forcing an NBA season-high 28 turnovers in a 25-point win, the Nets did a great job of containing Suns stars Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton, the No. 1 overall draft pick, and forcing 20 Suns turnovers that led to 21 Nets points.

“We’re growing up in terms of our physicality on the defensive end,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I think that’s our mental maturation; I think it’s physical maturation. Ed Davis was outstanding. He’s a physical player, and sometimes, that’s contagious.”

Caris LeVert topped the Nets with 26 points, D’Angelo Russell had 15 points and six assists, Spencer Dinwiddie had 12, Joe Harris scored 11, and Davis had 12 rebounds to go with nine points. The Nets controlled the paint by a 54-30 margin.

Booker topped the Suns (2-8) with 20 points but had to work for it on 6-for-21 shooting against tag-team defense by LeVert and Dinwiddie, and Ayton had 15 points and 13 rebounds but was held to 6-for-17 shooting by Davis and Jarrett Allen.

There were two critical moments. The Suns cut a 15-point deficit to five in the third quarter, but the Nets responded with an 11-2 burst that included three-pointers by former Sun Dudley, LeVert and Dinwiddie to restore a 74-60 cushion. When the Suns pulled within 10 early in the fourth, back-to-back threes by Dinwiddie and Harris, who extended his streak to 26 games with at least one made three, ignited a 12-4 push that gave them their biggest lead to that point at 92-74.

Asked about the steadying influence of the Nets’ new veteran presence, LeVert said, “Those guys have been huge for our team. Jared’s constantly talking to us out there, watching film with us. He’s a huge, huge part of our team, stuff that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet.”

Atkinson said the Nets might have folded in that situation in the past, but the coach added, “I think we’re a maturing team. We’re getting mentally tougher, especially on the road.”

When the Suns closed the gap to five midway through the third period, the crowd got into it, especially because Ayton scored six straight points during that stretch. But Davis reminded everyone the Nets still owned the lead and knew what they had to do.

“We just wanted to take that punch and respond, and that’s what we did,” Davis said.

When it was suggested he might not have been aware of the Nets’ troubles in similar situations last season, Davis said, “They gave up a lot of games at the end, like we did in the Pelicans game [this season]. When you’re playing against a team like this and you get a 14- or 16-point lead, you want to put those teams away, and we definitely did that. We had them down, and we kept them down.

“In this NBA, keeping a team under 90 is crazy. What did they have — 82? That has to be top-five lowest scoring total of the season. It was a hell of a game for us defensively.”

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.