Irving back from personal ‘pause,’ but there’s no win

CLEVELAND — Kyrie Irving returned from his personal “pause” to score 37 points in his first game with Kevin Durant and James Harden, but the new-look, star-studded Brooklyn Nets gave up 42 to Collin Sexton and lost 147-135 in double overtime to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Sexton scored 15 points in the second OT — most of them over Irving — for the Cavs, who outplayed the Nets all night. Sexton dropped two 3-pointers and fed Taurean Prince for another in a span of 55 seconds as Cleveland put away Brooklyn.

Durant led Brooklyn with 38 points and Harden added 21. But Brooklyn’s “Big Three” couldn’t do enough to outlast Sexton, who missed Cleveland’s last five games with a sprained ankle.

As he knocked down one big shot after another in the second OT, players on Cleveland’s bench were tackling each other in delight. Cedi Osman added 25 points and Prince — acquired in the four-team deal that brought Harden to Brooklyn — 17 in his Cavs debut.

The Nets overcame a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter and tied it at 113-all on Irving’s putback with 1:10 left. Brooklyn had a chance in the closing seconds after Sexton’s turnover but couldn’t score.

Brooklyn appeared in control in the first

OT, but after Durant’s free throws put the Nets up 127-124, Sexton hit a 3-pointer over Irving with 1.2 seconds left.

Durant’s last chance, a contested 3-pointer at the horn, was short.

The Cavs were breaking in some new pieces too, with Jarrett Allen and Prince making their debuts.

Irving had missed Brooklyn’s last seven games, leaving on Jan. 7 to address some issues he didn’t specify while speaking with reporters following practice Tuesday. Irving only said he needed time to work through some issues to find balance in his life.

While he was away, the Nets pulled off the blockbuster deal for Harden, whose arrival has made Brooklyn the favorite to unseat Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference and a legit NBA title threat — maybe.

Before the game, Nets first-year coach Steve Nash admitted being “curious” about how his trio of superstars would align on the floor.

“But I’m not in a hurry,” he said, stressing it may take time for Durant, Irving and Harden to figure things out. “How can we make beautiful basketball together and not worry about the minutiae?”

The Nets are indeed a work in progress. There were moments of sloppiness, miscommunication and even confusion as Brooklyn’s players tried to find some cohesion in Harden’s third game.