While much of the basketball world focused on the Final Four on Saturday, the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets – or, in particular, Kevin Durant and Trey Young – were showing a show in a game that quietly had a serious impact on NBA playoff races.
The Nets jumped to a double-digit lead at first, but the Hawks went ahead during the second quarter and would not give up that advantage. Durant has a career-high 55 points, 19 out of 28 from the field and 8 out of 10 from 3-point land. Despite his best efforts, the net’s return attempt failed and the Hawks held 122-115 to extend their winning streak to five games.
After the game, Durant talked about how the Nets were playing “irregular” basketball, dropping the sixth-most free throw effort per game in the Brooklyn League (22.9).
“We’re fouling fast,” Durant said. “We put them in bonuses at the beginning of each quarter; 37-14 [difference in] Makes free throws. And that’s not the reason for the ref, it was because we’re reaching out and being erratic and playing very aggressive. That’s the game. They have 42% shots from the field which is great defense, 31[%] From 3. They left us two, and helped one more than we did… it’s just a foul. And if we want to be the winning team, we can’t.
Hawks went to the line 49 times and converted 37 shots in the win. Nate, however, took just 19 shots on the charity strip, of which 14 were.
Although the net did not win the game, we must first talk about Durant’s incredible performance. 30 of his 55 points came in the second half as he tried to pull the net back, but that was not enough. Durant and Kiri Irving combined for 86 points, while the rest of the list combined for just 29.
Durant was in an area where at one point he moved from one of the keys to the one-foot runner. You know that when you start breaking shots you feel like you are usually trying to fool around in a workout.
But as bright as Durant, the night is finally Young and the Hawks. With his friend, Kovavo, watching Courtside, Young made 36 points, six rebounds and 10 assists and closed the show in style. With Hawks holding a three-point lead in the last minute, Young took charge. He scored 11 points in the final 91 seconds, with 22.7 seconds left with a foul pull-up 3-pointer over Patty Mills that basically ended the game.
Now with five consecutive wins under their belt, the Hawks have improved to 41-37 this season. What’s more, they have jumped on both the net and Charlotte Hornet to move up to eighth place in the Eastern Conference. This may not seem important, as they will still go to the play-off tournament, but if you finish No. 7 or 8, you only need to win one game to reach the playoffs. The team at Spot No. 9 and 10 will have to win twice.
For Brooklyn, the rate is an expensive one for the Hawks, having previously dropped them to 10th place and will have to go through a play-in tournament to secure a play-off spot. Although Durant made a career high, he was more concerned with the loss and what it meant for his team to move forward.
“Every loss is deflating,” Durant said. “I am not worried about it. I’m just crazy to lose. I’m glad I shot the ball well. Made eight 3s, a high carrier, but I hope we’d come up with a W doing just the little things. My point is coming. My shots are coming, but the little things we need to do are stay on the same page.
The Net can still rise in the rankings to improve their position in the play-in tournament. However, they will have to rely on some teams before losing some final games in their regular season, in addition to winning, something that did not come easy for Brooklyn late.
