Durant’s 31 points power Nets past Young, Hawks 113-105

ATLANTA — Kevin Durant and James Harden carried the heavy scoring load for the Brooklyn Nets, as usual.

Coach Steve Nash also credited his “bullpen” for closing out New Jersey’s win over Atlanta.

Durant scored 31 points, including a go-ahead jumper midway through the fourth quarter, and the Nets proved to be resilient once again, beating the Hawks 113-105 on Friday night.

New Jersey trailed 91-89 before outscoring Atlanta 24-14 in the final period.

Rookie Cam Thomas sank three 3-pointers while scoring 11 points off Brooklyn’s bench. Another backup, Nic Claxton, added four points and four rebounds while providing valuable defense as most of his minutes came in the final quarter.

“They’re both so versatile,” Nash said of Thomas and Claxton. “It really gives us a great bullpen, so to speak. … I think it just elevates our level of play at that end of the floor so much.”

With the 6-foot-11 Claxton sharing the defensive load on Atlanta point guard Trae Young, the Hawks made only 6 of 22 shots in the final period.

“It was just a good lineup to finish the game,” Durant said. “I’m glad the defense won it for us.”

Young led Atlanta with 31 points but made 2 of 7 shots from the field in the fourth.

“We both played good defense,” Young said. “They played better defense in the fourth. I’ve got to do a better job of making shots in the fourth.”

Harden had 20 points and 11 assists for Brooklyn, which is 2-0 against Atlanta this season.

The Nets, protecting their slim lead over Chicago for the best record in the Eastern Conference, improved to 8-0 following losses this season. Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 15 points, were rested in Wednesday night’s 114-104 loss at Houston.

John Collins had 20 points and Kevin Huerter added 19 for the Hawks.

There were three ties early in the final period, including at 95-all. Durant’s jumper sparked an 8-0 run that gave the Nets a 103-95 lead. Harden had four points in the run.

Atlanta answered with seven straight points, including a 3-pointer and another basket by Young, to pull to within 103-102. The Hawks couldn’t complete the comeback.

The Hawks led 73-62 early in the third period.

Thomas, coming off a season-high 18 points against Houston, had three 3s in the period, including one that tied it at 86-all.

Thomas added another 3 to give Brooklyn its first lead of the half, 89-88. Danilo Gallinari answered with a 3 to give Atlanta the lead entering the final period.

TIP-INS

Nets: Nash acknowledged he worries about the toll of excessive minutes logged by the 32-year-old Harden. He played 41 minutes, his fifth game in the last six logging at least 39. … Aldridge set a season high with three blocked shots. Durant also had three blocks.

Hawks: Clint Capela posted his 16th double-double of the season with 14 points and 16 rebounds. … Huerter opened the game by making two 3-pointers. The Hawks didn’t make another 3 in the period but they closed the half with another 3 from Huerter. He made 5 of 7 3s.

REDDISH RETURNS

Hawks forward Cam Reddish scored four points in his return after missing four games with a sprained left wrist. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot remained in the starting lineup, but did not score.

Reddish scored all his points on free throws. He was 0 for 6 from the field.

“He didn’t get his shot to fall tonight, but he’ll get back into it,” Young said. “When he’s in a groove, it’s a lot better for our team.”

Reddish adds important depth on the wing. The issue became more critical with Wednesday’s announcement that Solomon Hill is expected to miss the remainder of the season with a torn right hamstring tendon.

Atlanta also is without De’Andre Hunter, who is recovering from surgery on his right wrist, and Bogdan Bogdanovic, who missed his fifth consecutive game due to a sprained right ankle.

STRENGTH VS. STRENGTH

One game after setting a franchise record by making 25 3-pointers in a 121-110 win at Minnesota on Monday, the Hawks made 11 of 34 3s. Entering the game, Atlanta led the NBA in 3-point shooting, making 38.6%, while Brooklyn led the league in 3-point defense, allowing 30.5%.

ALL GOOD

Durant and Young each drew technical fouls for a brief skirmish in the final period. The two were separated and downplayed the incident after the game.

“He wanted me to get out of his space and I understand that,” Durant said.

UP NEXT

Nets: Wrap up a four-game road trip at Detroit on Sunday night.

Hawks: Play Houston on Monday night.

BUCKS 123, ROCKETS 114

HOUSTON — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 41 points and 17 rebounds, and Milwaukee snapped Houston’s seven-game winning streak.

The Rockets led by 10 at one point and hung around until the Bucks pulled away in the fourth quarter.

Bobby Portis and Middleton added 21 points each for Milwaukee as the Bucks won for the 11th time in 13 games.

Garrison Mathews led the Rockets with a season-high 23 points and made a career-best six 3-pointers. Christian Wood and Armoni Brooks had 21 apiece for Houston.

LAKERS 116, THUNDER 95

OKLAHOMA CITY — LeBron James scored 33 points on 13-of-20 shooting and Los Angeles rolled past Oklahoma City.

James — who sat out the Lakers’ first two games against the Thunder this season, both losses — had six assists and five rebounds. Avery Bradley added a season-high 22 points for the Lakers, who moved one game above .500.

Rookie Tre Mann scored a season-high 19 points for Oklahoma City. Leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who came in averaging 21.9 points per game, finished with 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

HORNETS 124, KINGS 123

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sacramento’s three-game winning streak ended when De’Aaron Fox missed two free throws with 2.4 seconds left to give Charlotte the victory.

Charlotte rookie James Bouknight, the 11th pick in the 2021 draft, poured in a career-high 24 points on six 3-pointers. Miles Bridges added 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Kelly Oubre had 22 points. The Hornets have seven players out due to illness and NBA health and safety protocols.

Fox had 31 points to lead the Kings, but his missed free throws proved critical. Cody Martin made one of two free throws to put the Hornets ahead before fouling Fox near midcourt.

RAPTORS 90, KNICKS 87

TORONTO — Gary Trent Jr. scored 24 points, Fred VanVleet had 17 points and 11 assists, and Toronto won its 10th straight home meeting against New York.

Scottie Barnes had 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds and Pascal Siakam had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who let a 20-point first quarter lead slip away but held on to win their third in four games.

The Knicks’ Obi Toppin scored a career-high 19 points and added 10 rebounds, Julius Randle had 13 points and 14 rebounds, and RJ Barrett scored 19 points. New York lost for the sixth time in its past eight.

PACERS 106, MAVERICKS 93

INDIANAPOLIS — Caris LeVert scored 26 points and Domantas Sabonis added 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead Indiana past Dallas.

Indiana won its third straight game for the first time this season — this one coming without coach Rick Carlisle, who entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols Thursday after testing positive for COVID-19. Assistant coach Lloyd Pierce replaced Carlisle on the bench.

Luka Doncic had 27 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for Dallas. Kristaps Porzingis added 22 points as the Mavericks lost for the fourth time in five games.

CAVALIERS 123, TIMBERWOLVES 106

MINNEAPOLIS — Jarrett Allen had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Cleveland used a fast start to cruise past Minnesota.

Kevin Love scored 18 points and had 13 rebounds off the bench against his former team, and Darius Garland had 12 points and 12 assists. Cleveland had seven players score in double digits: Lauri Markkanen (19), Isaac Okoro (16), Cedi Osman (13) and Evan Mobley (11).

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 12 of his 21 points in garbage time, Malik Beasley had 15 points off the bench and Anthony Edwards scored 13 for Minnesota, which has lost five straight.

PELICANS 109, PISTONS 93

NEW ORLEANS — Brandon Ingram scored 26 points and New Orleans extended Detroit’s losing streak to 11 games.

Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, which trailed by as many as 15 points in the second quarter but led by as many as 27 in the second half. Since starting 1-12, New Orleans has won seven of 15 games.

Trey Lyles scored 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting and rookie Cade Cunningham added 16 points for Detroit, which missed 19 of 24 shots in the third quarter while being outscored 29-12.