Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant knows that when the Nets face teams like the Charlotte Hornets, they have to get out to a good start in order to prevent the team from getting confidence and possibly upsetting them. In the first two meetings between these two teams, Brooklyn was expected to win pretty handily only for them to win the game by a few points and having to win the game late.
In Saturday’s 123-106 win over the Hornets on New Year’s Eve, the Nets finally got off to a great start against Charlotte and didn’t look back. Durant’s 23 points had a hand in Brooklyn having as much as a 22-point lead in the game. Durant had 10 points in the first quarter to set the tone for the Nets and the rest of the team followed his lead.
During his postgame availability, Durant gave his take on how Brooklyn’s start to this game was pivotal in the win:
“Yeah, it (the good start) was key. We know that this team (the Hornets) can get hot. We knew that they were gonna come out and make a run there in the third quarter, which they did. They cut it to six twice. We’ve been in this position before where a team gets hot on us after having a big lead so we knew what to do afterwards. Coach (Jacque Vaughn) called good plays out of the timeouts, we executed defensively, and was able to get a win.”
The Nets finish 2022 on a 11-game winning streak and have won 15 of their last 16 games.
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Player grades: Kyrie Irving nets 28 points in wire-to-wire 123-106 win over the Hornets
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NBA Twitter reacts to Nets’ dominating 123-106 win over the Hornets
Story originally appeared on Nets Wire