The Brooklyn Nets returned home on Sunday from their longest road trip of the season to face the Golden State Warriors at home on Tuesday. After beginning the trip Nov. 5 with a 96-90 win over the Detroit Pistons, the Nets ended it with a 120-96 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In all, they went 6-0, also defeating the Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic and New Orleans Pelicans. The Warriors are different. They came into the Barclays Center with the best record in the NBA at 12-2. They made it 13-2 after beating the Nets by 117-99. The Warriors, who were ranked third in the league for opponents’ points allowed at 101.3 at the start of yesterday’s (Wednesday) schedule, showed the Nets why, holding Kevin Durant to 19 points on 6-19 shooting. Durant leads the NBA in scoring at 28.9.
“They got long defenders, guys that can help, so seeing bodies all the time when I had the ball, that’s what great defenses do,” said Durant, also acknowledging some of the bad shots that he took.
“Some shots I wish I could’ve had back,” Durant said. “I rushed a few once we got down 15, 20. I’m trying to get it back so fast, you end up taking bad shots and rushed shots.”
Brooklyn came out strong in the first quarter, taking a 34-31 lead, but the Warriors’ superior second quarter put them up 63-58 at the half. The Warriors dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Nets 35-18 and won the game going away. Stephen Curry, who is second to Durant in scoring at 28.7, put on another spectacular display, dropping 37 points in shooting 9-14 from three.
Durant, who was named Eadstern Conference Player of the Week for Nov. 8-14, averaging 32.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists, viewed the matchup as “another opportunity for us to build up who we are, figure out what we want to do out there, and keep pushing.”
At 10-5, the Nets were still third overall in the Eastern Conference before facing the Cleveland Cavaliers last night at home. They’ll face the Orlando Magic tomorrow at Barclays and the Cavaliers again Monday on the road.