The Nets, struggling and sans Kyrie Irving, needed something positive in the worst way. What they got was a sublime performance from Kevin Durant.
The former MVP looked like one, lifting the Nets back from a huge deficit to a come-from-behind 122-116 win over the Nuggets on Tuesday night at Barclays Center.
The Nets trailed by 18 points in the third quarter before rallying to take a lead. Trailing again, 113-111, late in the fourth quarter, they reeled off 10 unanswered points to knock off the Nuggets.
“It was definitely needed, especially after a bad loss last game and especially starting off down 18,” Durant said. “You’ve seen guys have pride and they want to come out and compete. And everybody came with it.”
Durant had a game-high 34 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds. Fourteen of his points came during a 32-7 third-quarter run that turned an 18-point hole into a seven-point lead. He and defensive ace Bruce Brown led the rally down the stretch.
Brown finished with 16 points and six boards while Caris LeVert added 20 points, six assists and five boards off the bench.
Kevin Durant slams one home during the Nets’ 122-116 comeback win over the Nuggets. Getty Images“That man is different,” Brown said of Durant. “I think I stole rebounds and he didn’t get a triple-double. I didn’t even know; I would’ve let him get it. But that man’s different.
“He’s just a walking bucket. … I’ve never seen a player like this before.”
The Nets, who evened their record at 6-6, play the Knicks at the Garden on Wednesday.
“It was a great win. We needed it, I think, for our soul. A lot’s been thrown at us, a lot of new things,” said coach Steve Nash, who challenged his team at halftime. “We asked them to compete in the second half, to up their level physically, demand and compete and win little battles. That’s what they did, and they got a victory.”
Denver’s Nikola Jokic (23 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds) and Jamal Murray (20 points) gave the Nets fits early.
A pair of Murray baskets gave the Nuggets a pair of 18-point leads early in the third quarter, first at 74-56, and then again at 76-58 with 10:32 left in the period.
That’s when the Nets strung together an eight-minute, 32-7 run to retake control of the game. A team that couldn’t buy a stop in the first half forced the Nuggets to shoot just 3 of 12 with four turnovers in that stretch.
That fed the fast break and Durant had 14 points in the spurt, along with four assists — the last a feed to Taurean Prince for a finger roll that made it 90-83 with 2:36 left in the third.
The Nuggets got back in front at 111-109 before the Nets tied it at 111 on an offensive rebound and Brown’s strong drive.
Jokic put Denver back ahead at 113-111 before the Nets used a 10-0 run to seal it. Brown got a bounce to knot it, and — after a Will Barton offensive foul — added a baseline floater for a 115-113 lead on one end, and a defensive board on the other.
Durant’s jumper made it 117-113 with 1:14 to play, and the Nets forced a miss from Murray. Durant’s dagger 3-pointer iced it.
“I feel like I feel like I’ve been in a good groove and knocking down shots,” said Durant, who passed Adrian Dantley, Elgin Baylor and Dwyane Wade on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. “I mean, I feel good, man.”
