By Shara Talia Taylor
The Brooklyn Nets picked up their pace after a slow start to defeat the Indiana Pacers Friday night at the Barclays Center.
The Nets had to find out what pieces fit and now have a 3-3 record at the start of the season. Nets added faster play and aggressiveness, and reached a new milestone, as they defeated the Pacers 105-98 in Brooklyn.
“In the first quarter and in about the first 14-15 minutes of the game, we gave up six offensive rebounds for layups,” said second year Nets head coach Steve Nash about the start of the game. “That’s not good enough.” Nash said stopping turnovers made the difference in the comeback. He talked about the challenges this year verses last year at this time during his pre-game interview. “We’re trying to get a bunch of veteran guys to get their rhythm, their timing, in better condition, and learn to play with one another,” he said. “That’s a different challenge than last year.”
Nets have had some individual achievements to start the season. Joe Harris set a franchise record last Wednesday against the Miami Heat, as he became the all-time leader in 3-pointers for the Nets, surpassing Jason Kid’s record of 813. LaMarcus Aldridge also reached a new milestone in his career as he became the 48th player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points Friday night. “It feels good, a true blessing,” Aldridge said about the accomplishment. “Definitely felt good to get it done.”
“In order to be great in this league and make a name for yourself it’s consistency,” said James Harden about his teammate’s accomplishment. “Whatever you’re great at, whatever your role is, you have to do it every single night and LaMarcus has done that for the teams he’s been playing on.”
Brooklyn Rebounds After Opening Home Loss
Brooklyn trailed at the end of the first quarter 38-26, but fought their way back in the second quarter and were ahead of the Pacers 58-55 at halftime. “26 points is pretty solid for the first half, but giving up 38 is horrible, so we knew we had to do a good job in the last three quarters on the defensive side of the ball,” said Kevin Durant.
Nets executed this with intensity, as Pacers tried to regain their lead. Aldridge blocked a shot in the third quarter and Nets worked the ball to Durant who was fouled. He appeared to throw the ball into the stands in frustration after the whistle gaining a technical foul. “I tried to hit it off the backboard, but I still shouldn’t have even did that,” Durant said. “I thought I was at the gym by myself playing a pickup game, not an NBA game. I can’t do that.”
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
The Pacers tied the score at 90 with less than 5:15 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. “We didn’t turn it over in the second quarter, but late in the game we just turned it over too much,” Nash said.
Pacers called time out as the Nets led 96-90, but Brooklyn tightened their defensive and closed the game 105-98.
Harden led the Nets with 29-points and eight assists. He had eight total rebounds. Durant had 22 points, seven assists and 11 total rebounds. Aldridge had 21 points, eight total rebounds and zero assists.
Aldridge said the team will have to figure out how to get pass the slow starts as they play teams that come into the game aggressive from tip-off. “I just think we got to understand that we’re one of the favorites so every team is going to come in here and just want to give us an ‘L’,” he said. “Guys are coming in here and shooting the ball better than they have all year or all their career. Guys are just playing up for us, so we got to make sure that we’re always ready for that.”
The Nets might have some more fine tuning with their roster as they determine a lineup that works best without Kyrie Irving. Nets announced early October that he would not be playing with the team until he complies with New York’s COVID-19 vaccination rules.
“I’ve messaged with him, but we didn’t talk basketball just connected with him,” Nash said about Irving in his pre-game interview.
Brooklyn host their next two games beginning with Detroit Sunday night and Atlanta Wednesday night.
Sports Editor Andrew Rosario contributed to this article..
