Kevin Durant has classic 37-point game as Nets defeat Jazz, 114-106 - Nets Daily

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It wasn’t pretty towards the end but it was pretty, pretty good and a needed win, the sixth in the last seven in fact.

The Brooklyn Nets were up big and did enough down the stretch to avoid a 21-point collapse, defeating the Utah Jazz, 114-106. With the home win, the Nets improve to 38-34 on the season and are now with three games of the sixth seed with 10 to play.

It was an all-around team effort win with multiple Nets delivering big contributions and timely baskets, but the ship was steered by another Kevin Durant scoring barrage. Brooklyn’s superstar poured in a game-high 37 points (15-of-23 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range) to go with nine boards, eight assists, a steal, and four turnovers in 38 minutes. Durant also made history, passing Jerry West to move into 22nd place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Bruce Brown had his best scoring performance of the season, finishing with a season-high 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists, a steal, and only one turnover in 37 minutes but Nic Claxton rose to the occasion, bullying Rudy Gobert ... and he did it with Andre Drummond (non-COVID illness) out.

The young big finished with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists, one steal, and two blocks in 28 minutes while the two-time Defensive Player of the Year played four more minutes but only mounted an 11-point, four rebound output. Gobert didn’t record a block. Blake Griffin, pressed into service, had a solid game, delivering nine points, four rebounds, three assists, and a block in 20 minutes off the bench.

Although Brooklyn came up with the win, Seth Curry had to leave the game and did not return to the contest after aggravating a left ankle issue in the second quarter. The guard slipped along the right-wing and after being evaluated in the locker room, was ruled out for the remainder of the game. Steve Nash didn’t have an update after the game on Curry but said the guard was in good spirits and doesn’t think the injury — to the same ankle that caused him to miss three games last week — will be a long-term thing.

For the Jazz, New York native, Donovan Mitchell led their squad with a team-high 30 points. Gobert had a tough night, scoring only 11 points, four rebounds, one assist, and zero blocks in 31 minutes. With the defeat, Utah falls to 45-27.

The Nets opened the contest with their franchise-record 40th different starting five of Dragic, Curry, Durant, Brown, and Claxton against the Jazz. Brooklyn hit six of their first nine shots with a balanced scoring effort in the opening six minutes, but Utah answered with a 14-1 burst to edge the scoreboard.

Although the run by the Jazz looked good on paper, Durant (eight points) started to heat up in the closing minutes of the first. It wasn’t enough to push Brooklyn, who only attempted six 3-pointers, over the top to end the quarter with a lead. Utah led Brooklyn, 28-25 after one.

The Jazz had the upper hand to start the second. Brooklyn’s poor interior defense helped Jazz to build a seven-point lead. With Durant getting a breather on the bench up till the 6:05 mark, Griffin thrived doing his clean-up duties under the rim and hitting a pair of triples helped the Nets bring the deficit down to single digits.

Brooklyn suffered a big blow at the 3:28 mark of the period when Curry went down. The Nets head coach called a timeout to get Curry off the floor and the guard walked to the locker room. Curry’s wife, Callie Rivers Curry, was not pleased...

jesusss WIPE THE FLOOR

— callie rivers curry (@calliecurry) March 22, 2022

The Nets seemed to play with much more emotion after Curry’s injury. The team upped the pace and forged an 8-0 run, holding the Jazz scoreless for the final 3:01 of the first half. At the half, Brooklyn led Utah, 53-51. Durant (15) and Brown (11) combined for 26 of the team’s 53 with bench scoring from Griffin (nine points) and James Johnson (seven points). The offense tallied shooting percentages of 50.0 percent overall but a struggling 26.7 percent from 3-point range. The difference-maker, aside from Durant heating up late in the second, was ball movement. Brooklyn owned a 15-9 assists margin at the break.

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Brooklyn got a huge energy boost to open the second half courtesy of Claxton. After a defensive stop on Gobert, Claxton ran the floor and off a feed from Durant, put the Jazz big man on a poster with an emphatic dunk to help spark the 9-0 run in the first minute of play. The young big man continued his strong play in the third with a pair of finishes under the basket to help propel an 11-point lead (73-62) at the 7:04 mark.

The offense remained strong with a 13-4 run spanning nearly four minutes of play to build on their largest lead of the game behind the smoking-hot shooting of Durant. At the 2:33 mark, the lead ballooned to 84-68. There was plenty more offensive firepower left in the tank. Durant (27 points through three quarters) scored 11 of Brooklyn’s final 13 points in the period to boost a 91-75 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

It didn’t take long for the Nets to put a bow on Monday night’s contest. At the 6:08 mark of the fourth, Durant cashed a left-wing three to put Brooklyn up by 21 (108-87), resulting in Utah calling a timeout. At least that’s what many thought.

Brooklyn got a little careless to finish off the contest, coughing up seven turnovers in the final period, giving Utah some hope of an improbable comeback. The Jazz held the Nets scoreless for just over three minutes, building a 15-2 run to trim the deficit to only eight points with 1:06 left. Utah got the lead down to six but a nifty alley-oop connection from Durant to Claxton at the 37.4 mark provided the dagger.

The Film Room

It’s safe to say this one constituted a team victory.

Brooklyn got contributions across the board on Monday night, even while down as many as 6 key rotation players — Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Joe Harris, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Andre Drumond, as well as Seth Curry who exited mid-game. Still, these Nets found a way to persevere.

Blake Griffin made the most of his minutes while receiving his first bit of playing time since March 15 against the Orlando Magic. Griffin had played just 33 minutes in the entire month of March prior to Monday, yet he almost instantly filled the stat-sheet by scoring 9 points in 9 minutes along with 3 assists in the first half. It’s always a bonus when Blake is able to knock down his three-balls against defenses that disrespect his shooting abilities.

The second half was Nicolas Claxton’s time to shine. Though drop coverage isn’t his primary form of pick-and-roll defense, the 22-year-old big man adjusted to Rudy Gobert’s pick-and-roll cadence as a roller — far from an easy task. On offense, he and Kevin Durant connected on multiple possessions for alley-oops, including the game-sealing dunk after KD beat a trap as a 7-foot point guard. By far Nic’s brightest moment of the game — and maybe of the season — was this monstrous block and Rudy Gobert on one end and then the insane poster on the other. Just pure sickeness.

Brooklyn’s little engine that could, Bruce Brown, fueled Brooklyn throughout the entire contest. In the handful of moments that it appeared as if the game was slipping out of Brooklyn’s control in the first half, Brown took the reigns by pushing the pace and piercing into the Jazz’s defense with timely cuts and headstrong drives in transition. As such, Brown was able to put up a career-high 9 free throws and his Nets hung 54 points in the paint against Rudy Gobert and Utah’s tough interior defense.

And then, of course, there was the big guy. The effervescent scoring force, and who many consider the best player in the world, Kevin Durant. After his teammates set the table for the first three quarters, Kevin Durant carried the Nets home. He hit back-to-back pull-up threes when the Jazz began to switch their big men late in the third quarter, putting the Nets up 16 which effectively sealed the game.

Sitting at the 8-seed with just 10 games to spare, it’s unlikely Brooklyn can climb much higher than the 6 spot — and maybe out of the play-in tournament altogether. Still, when Kevin Durant is on your squad, anything is possible. Nobody wants to see these Nets in a 7-game series when they’re humming like this.

Milestone Watch

Kevin Durant scored has now scored 25,213 career points, moving past Jerry West (25,192 points) into 22nd place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Next up: Reggie Miller (25,279 points).

The game also marked the 20th time this season that KD has scored 30 points. The most 30-point games in a season in Nets NBA history:

25 - Vince Carter - 2006-07

24 - Vince Carter - 2004-05

22 - Bernard King - 1977-78

20 - Kevin Durant - 2021-22

20 - John Williamson - 1977-78

Patty Mills third 3-pointer was his 212th of the season, moving him into sole possession of second place in Nets single-season history in 3-pointers made, past Joe Harris. D’Angelo Russell (2018-19) is the all-time leader with 234.

What’s next

Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images

The Nets will be back in action on Wednesday, March 23 when the team travels to Memphis to play the Grizzlies. The game is slated to tip at 7:30 p.m. ET.

For a different perspective on Monday night’s game, check out SLC Dunk — our sister site covering the Grizzlies.

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Kevin Durant has classic 37-point game as Nets defeat Jazz, 114-106 - Nets Daily
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