USA TODAY International Edition
Irving, Durant power Nets past Booker, Suns
The Suns were already going to have a tough time handling the Nets’ Kyrie Irving.
Proved to be true as Irving finished Sunday’s showdown at Brooklyn with a team- high 34 points.
Then Kevin Durant was added to the equation as he returned after missing three games with a thigh injury.
Uh- oh.
Durant churned out 33 points in 28 in minutes as the Suns lost back- to- back games for the first time since January, 128- 119 at Barclays Center. Phoenix had lost Thursday at Boston.
“It was a dog-fight,” Suns All- Star guard Devin Booker said. “Obviously, they’re a very talented team that’s playing well. I thought we started off pretty well. They just continued to make shots. We had a lot of miscommunication on a lot of our switches.”
The Eastern Conference- leading Nets ( 41- 20) led by as many as 16 points in the second half after trailing by as many as 13 in the first half.
Down 56- 43 with 3: 34 remaining in the second quarter, Brooklyn closed the half on a 16- 5 run, trailing by only two, 61- 59, at the half.
Irving and Durant combined for 10 of those points as Irving hit two 3s.
“If we could’ve scored and gotten stops, we could’ve gone into halftime with a double- digit lead,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “Instead we went in with a two- point lead. I thought that kind of changed the momentum a little bit.”
Then trailing by five to start the fourth, Phoenix surrendered another 16- 5 Brooklyn run to fall behind 113- 97 with 6: 52 remaining. Durant scored nine points in that run.
“They were huge,” Suns forward Torrey Craig said about the 16- 5 Brooklyn runs. “When we get a lead, we’ve got ( to) learn how to play better with the lead and just learn how to keep it and stay composed. Credit to those guys. They made plays. They made shots the whole game. They were the better team tonight.”
Booker scored a game- high 36 points after scoring a total of 34 in his previous two games, Deandre Ayton finished with a double- double of 20 and 13 boards, but Irving and Durant combined for 67 points for the game as the Nets hit 8 of 12 from 3 in a 69- point second half.
“It’s just a tough game, a tough team to play against when you can’t generate the kind of offense you need in moments,” Williams said. “We scored 119 points, but a lot of those points were long twos or twos in the paint that weren’t by the rim. We have to be able to generate 3s ( shot 12 of 34) and take advantage of DA at the rim. I didn’t think we did that well enough tonight and two guys had really good nights for them and their other guys were really physical on defense. I thought that took a toll on us.”
The Nets shot 52.9% from the field for the game against the NBA’s fifthbest defense.
“We could’ve been better defensively, but a lot of good stretches,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. “We created separation with our defense. Offensively, we were able to score. Tonight was good. Lots to build on. Lots of positives, but for me, it’s never this is where we are. It’s where we’re going.”
The Nets were without All- Star James Harden, sidelined with a hamstring injury, but managed to sweep the season series over the Suns.
Harden scored 38 in leading Brooklyn to a 128- 124 win in February at Phoenix after trailing by as many as 24.
“They’re fresh on the scene as an elite team, so this is pretty new to them,” said Durant, who along with Irving were sidelined for the first meeting. “So we wanted to gauge and take that physicality that they bring and that toughness and that quickness that they bring.”
Phoenix was also without Dario Saric ( injury management, ankle) and Jae Crowder ( ankle), who missed his second straight game after suffering an injury at Philadelphia.
“Those guys have to get well,” Williams said. “We can’t have them out there playing sore. So we have what we have and what we have is enough.”
Cam Johnson, who got a second straight start Sunday, shot 1 of 5 from 3 in scoring nine points after going 0for- 6 on 3s in Thursday’s loss while Mikal Bridges managed only seven points, going 0- for- 4 from 3, after a 1 of 9 effort on 3s Thursday.
“You have to trust the work, reps remove doubt,” Williams said. “The guys have gotten their reps in. It happens to everybody over the course of the season and your career. You’re going to run into moments in your career or seasons or a week or so or a couple of games you don’t knock down shots, but you have to trust all the work that you put in.”
The Suns, who are 19- 9 on the road, squandered a chance to pull within a game of Western- leading Utah ( 44- 16).