The new calendar year never slowed down brooklyn nets‘How to win.
Brooklyn extends its winning streak to 12 after the most winning month in franchise history San Antonio Spurs They didn’t trail with a 139-103 win on Monday night.
“The first group really set the tone and we didn’t skip a beat,” head coach Jack Vaughan said after the game. “That’s what we’ve been talking about as a group. No excuses. I Another big challenge for our group to start the year in the right way.”
The Nets are now one game behind the No. 1 seed. celtics They have a 25-12 record in the Eastern Conference standings (1-1).
Kyrie Irving contributed a lot on the board, scoring 27 points on an efficient 11-of-14 outing shooting from the field and recording eight rebounds. Co-star Kevin Durant had a double-double with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and 11 assists.
In the first quarter, Kyrie Irving Shaw scored 15 points almost immediately with a perfect 6-6 shot from the field. Day’Ron Sharp briefly returned to Vaughan’s rotation for the first time since the Nets deployed his B team against Indiana on December 10, but did not record any stats. Joe Harris returned to action after checking in with his 3:36 left in the period and quickly got to work, scoring his jumper with his 3-pointer at first and another pull-up from midrange. .
Brooklyn kept his foot on the accelerator in the second quarter, and so did Kyrie Irving. Yuta Watanabe took the lead in the second frame with long-range hits and driving dunks. When “Yuta the Shooter” finally missed the target, Kyrie Irving sneaked into the lane and scored a putback his slam. It was the first dunk of the season and brought the Barclays center crowd to their feet, especially after the Star Guard encouraged the fans.
“This is my city,” Irving shouted to fans in the arena.
Irving joked after the game. “But seriously, I’m happy that I was able to play in such a way as to revitalize the group.
The Nets then performed their highlights in the locker room, where Vaughn said “celebrating each other” was an important part of team building. It’s so cool to appreciate it, have fun with it, and really support him.”
“Honestly, it felt like 2K,” said Ben Simmons. “I didn’t know he could do it.”
Seth Curry continued to shoot three 3-pointers for the home team. From there, Durant focused on extending Brooklyn’s lead to his 28 points. The Nets led 74-47 after his second quarter.
After the break, the Nets tried to extend their lead by surpassing the 100-point mark on a KD pull-up jump shot at the 2:07 mark. Brooklyn extended the lead balloon to his 31st point and he eventually led 108-79 with 12 minutes of action left in him.On Monday night, the Nets scored three-quarters in his triple-figure play for the second time this season, and the other he recorded on Dec. 21. golden state warriors.
Maintaining a 29-point lead, the Nets rested their stars heading into the final quarter, pitting the likes of Cam Thomas, Dalon Sharp, and Patty Mills against the Spurs, who are low-ranking Wenbanyama hopes. Antonio failed to get within 29 points and the Nets won 139-103.
The Nets were relatively short-handed on Monday, missing veteran wings Markafe Morris and Royce O’Neill with non-COVID illnesses. and O’Neal’s absence was confirmed within an hour of being informed. He said he plans to travel with the team on a road trip.
“We got the chance to sleep at home, which was nice,” commented Vaughan, summing things up. “It felt good to be home, so let’s take advantage of it and try to play three on the road now. I think I’m excited about what it is.
milestone watch
- With the Nets win over San Antonio, they won…
・12 consecutive wins (longest in the league this season, third in franchise history).
16th win in last 17 games, 19th win in last 22 games.
・5 consecutive wins at home, 11 wins in last 12 games.
- The Nets broke the 100-point mark in three-quarters for the second time this season. Brooklyn scored 109 through the third quarter in his December 21 game against Golden State.
Jack Vaughan on how Gregg Popovich placed him
Jacque Vaughn is a branch of the Gregg Popovich coaching tree. He played under Pop and won the title in 2007, then headed the rebuilding Orlando team, where he served as his assistant for three seasons until he took a coaching job. I was. When that didn’t work out, Pop hailed him as a scout. Then in 2016, Sean Marks, who was an assistant GM at San Antonio, offered Vaughan an assistant job for the Nets under Kenny Atkinson. provided.
JV didn’t hold back when asked about what Popovich and San Antonio mean to him.
“He’s the reason I’m in this position,” Vaughan said. “He saw something in me as a player, saw something when I was done playing, made me part of that organization, shared an office with him, and made sure he was a regular season player. games, playoff games, shootouts.To see how he cared for my family and how he is still a mentor to me, I called and asked my kids, my wife , work, and you can talk to him about all of the above.
“He’s a very important person in my life and I wouldn’t be here without him.”
Popovich returned the favor.
“He’s just one of those guys with a natural basketball IQ who knows what’s going on,” Popovich said of Bourne. “He wasn’t the most talented player in the world. What matters is what makes you a valuable teammate…
“He essentially understood what was going on…time, intervals, clocks, scores, [and] The way he played, the example he set, all sorts of things, created the respect of his teammates. “
The coaching staff and front office in Brooklyn are filled with pop apprentices beyond Marks and Vaughan. Assistant coach Tiago Splitter played in San Antonio, and assistant coach Brian Keef was also a video assistant there. Coaching his director of analytics Logan his McPhail spent his three years with the Spurs organization and assistant his GM Jeff his Birdsong made his NBA start in San Antonio.
what’s next?
After three road games through Monday, the Nets went back to bed for just one night before heading back to the road for the next three games.
first, chicago bulls at the United Center on Wednesday night. The game is scheduled for 8:00 PM ET.
For another perspective on tonight’s game, hit the rockthe sister site of the Spurs.
