Irving, Nets hold on for must-have win
Maybe the Nets learned from their squandered leads and blown games. Perhaps they were desperate. Or New Orleans could just stink.
Either way, the Nets will take the result with Kyrie Irving leading the way to a much-needed 135-125 win over the Pelicans before 17,194 at Barclays Center on Monday night.
“We just found a way,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Crazy game. A lot of back-and-forth. [Brandon] Ingram was phenomenal of course; he hit some tough shots. We took a combination, a haymaker, however you want to call it — a couple of left hooks in the jaw in the third quarter.
“In the fourth quarter we did a better job and slowed them down a little. But third quarter, they were unstoppable.”
The Nets (3-4) had to shake off a 40-point barrage from Ingram, and get up off the deck after a 48-point Pelicans’ third quarter.
“Honestly, it went better than it should have,” said Jarrett Allen, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. “They came back — 48 points in the third quarter. That’s unacceptable but we still held our composure and won the game.”
After the Nets had blown a 14point lead in Saturday’s loss at Detroit — and seeing a 20-point cushion sliced to 121-119 on a Josh Hart layup with 4:43 left Monday — they righted their listing ship.
A dunk by Allen and turnaround fadeaway by Irving (team-high 39 points, nine assists) padded the lead back to six, and it never got closer than four the rest of the way.
“That’s part of my responsibility,” Irving said. “Getting in the paint I draw so much attention. Being able to see that weak side, guys are putting the triangle on me when I’m driving left or driving right.
“That’s part of the evolution of my game, just being able to make those plays as often as I can. Whether I’m scoring or whether someone is getting a wide-open shot — just got to trust it. Continue to trust that the basketball gods will reward you for making the right play. They did that for us.”
Stellar ball movement led to the Nets handing out a season-high 32 assists and shooting 53.3 percent. But that defense needs work, and lots of it.
Ingram, who’d been knocked out of New Orleans’ last game with a head injury, proved a headache for Taurean Prince.
But Caris LeVert had 23 points for the Nets, while Joe Harris added 19 and a dagger 3-pointer in the final minute.
After Irving’s free throws had given the Nets a 78-58 with 8:47 left in the third, a finger roll by Ingram left them clinging to a tenuous 130-125 edge with 1:43 to play in the fourth. But Garrett Temple found Harris for a 3 with 53.5 seconds left that essentially sealed it.
“Once Brandon Ingram kept making those tough layups, it was taking some of the momentum away from some of the possessions we had. But great players are going to make great shots,” Irving said. “We just had to keep executing and stay together as a team and make sure that we weren’t giving them any easy opportunities like we did in the third quarter or past fourth quarters. We just wanted to utilize that to get our breath, get our minds right, really get the shots that we wanted down the stretch.”
On Thursday the Nets fly out to start their longest road trip of the season, with five games in Portland, Phoenix, Utah, Denver and Chicago. The Bulls are the only sub-.500 team of the lot. The Nets haven’t found their identity yet, but hope to on this trip.
Just when it seemed like the Nets’ two-headed center platoon was starting to roll, they lost one of those heads.
DeAndre Jordan was forced out of Monday’s 135-125 win over New Orleans, suffering a sprained left ankle with 9:26 left and not returning. He limped out of the Nets locker room wearing a brace, while the team was noncommittal about the severity.
“We’ll see,” coach Kenny Atkinson told The Post. “I didn’t see how bad it was. Not great.”
Jordan got tangled up running for position and went down by the basket. He eventually got up and walked off under his own power, but gingerly limped to the bench and didn’t play the rest of the night. He ended up with four points, five rebounds and two blocks in 16 minutes of action.
“You never want to see anybody get hurt,” Joe Harris said. “That stuff happens, it’s part of the game. You hope its not as bad as it appears. But we’re fortunate to have a great performance staff and as long as its just a sprain he’ll probably be back before you know it.”
Jarrett Allen had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and has largely split time and starts with Jordan. He’ll see his playing time increase even more if the veteran has to miss any extended time.
➤ Through the first seven games, Kyrie Irving has recorded 222 points (31.7 ppg), 43 rebounds (6.1 rpg) and 54 assists (7.7 apg). The last player to top those stats through the first seven games of a season was Oscar
Robertson with the 1965-66 Cincinnati Royals.
That’s also the most points through the first seven games of a season in Nets history.
“I’m happy to go down as another Irving in Nets history,” Irving quipped, referring to Hall of Famer Julius Erving. “That’s a great thing.
“I’m going to continue to say it, but it’s a dream come true since I was in fourth grade. I left an NBA Finals game and went home and wrote it on sheetrock. And now to be going down in Nets history, I’m always appreciative, but obviously doing it at home it’s a different feeling. But obviously I know the important goals are ahead.”