CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 27 points as the Brooklyn Nets erased a two-point deficit in the fourth quarter, beating the short-handed Charlotte Hornets 98-94 on Saturday night since Kyrie Irving’s suspension Improved 2-0. ,
Cam Thomas added 21 points for the Nets and Nick Claxton had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Terry Rozier returned from a seven-game absence and led Charlotte to 25 points on six 3-pointers. PJ Washington and Kelly O’Brey Jr. had 18 points for the Hornets, who have lost four straight after beating defending champion Golden State Warriors.
The Nets followed a romp in Washington by winning the second night of back-to-back road.
“I feel like we’ve rallied around each other,” Durant said. “It has been a tough week for us and it is good to be back in the game. Once the ball is tipped (everything else) goes out the window. We were just waiting to come back to play. We showed some pride. ,
Thomas played only 15 minutes in the first eight games of the Nets season. But the guard for the second year in Irving’s absence has made a big move, combining 38 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in the last two games.
“It was a tough first two weeks of the season for me, so I can’t thank him enough for the coach to trust me to close the game and play me a good amount in the last two games,” Thomas said. Told.
The Hornets beat the Nets 17-6 to take an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter and appeared ready to pull away.
Rozier knocked out 3-pointers on back-to-back property, Nick Richards added a three-point play and Rozier made a free throw when Claxton was assessed a technical fault to dispute the call.
But the Nets backfired behind Durant and Thomas. He trimmed the lead for two on a corner 3 from Joe Harris, then tied the game when Thomas stole a pass into midcourt and was fouled on a layup attempt. He connected with 2:39 remaining on both free throws.
Thomas gave Brooklyn the lead on the drive, before Washington dropped a 3 over the keys to give Charlotte a 92-91 lead with almost a minute to play.
But Durant took over from there.
The 12-time NBA All-Star made a big 3 from the right wing to give the Nets the lead and added a baseline jumper to extend Brooklyn’s lead to four. Many of Brooklyn’s points came from second-chance points from aggressive rebounds and kickouts.
Mason Plumley received an aggressive rebound from a tipped Rozier 3-pointer with 27 seconds to spare before Thomas made a two-possession game with 14 seconds to go before being knocked home in two free throws.
For more Nets coverage, visit amNY.com and our affiliate site The BrooklynGame.com
Rozier missed two 3s at the other end and survived with the Nets (4-6) victory.
“It hurts,” Aubrey said of losing a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. “We have to watch the film and grow from it and learn from it.”
technical difficulties
After the league’s stat recording system, Genius Stats, crashed in the middle of the third quarter at the Spectrum Center, many game statistics were unavailable for more than an hour after the game was completed and were never restored.
Hornet public relations officers scrambled to secure as many figures as they could by hand after watching the film.
After the game, Durant was talking about his team’s solid defense and said, “I wish I had a stat sheet in front of me,” to which a reporter replied, “Yeah, we do too.”
Tip-ins
Nets: Seth Curry returns to action while Ben Simmons is ruled out for the fourth straight game with a left knee pain.
Hornets: Dennis Smith Jr., filling in brilliantly at point guard in the absence of Rozier and LaMelo Ball, left the game in the first half with a left ankle sprain and did not return. The ball missed nine games and Rozier was dismissed for seven with a sprain in his ankle. “I’m so excited to have him back and I miss him,” Aubrey said of Ball. “He is another element to our team. … But I want him to be healthy because he has a long career ahead of him.”
next
The Trap: Monday night in Dallas.
Hornet: Host Washington on Monday night.
