The Brooklyn Nets came into Bankers Life Stadium to play the Indiana Pacers. This was their 3rd meeting with Indiana. In the first 2 meetings of the season, Brooklyn went 2-0 against them. They were aiming to get a sweep which is something they have not done in 8 years. However, without Kyrie Irving on the floor due to groin soreness, Brooklyn knew they had to put their best foot forward. This time, the odds were in their favor.
Both Indiana and Brooklyn came out the gate with the same momentum. The game was tied twice early on. Caris LeVert of Indiana had an explosive first quarter against his former team. He had 12 first-quarter points and 3 buckets from behind the arc. Just under the halfway mark, LeVert hit another three to tie it at 20. From there, Brooklyn went on a 9-0 run. By the quarter’s end, Brooklyn went into the second up 35-28.
JaKarr Sampson’s dunk put the first points of the second quarter on the board for Indiana. Following that possession, Brooklyn scored 11 unanswered points. The team took a 16-point lead at the 8:46 mark, which forced Indiana to call timeout. Even after talking it over, they never really got themselves together. Their defense allowed Brooklyn to shoot 51% from the field. Meanwhile, Indiana’s offense was only shooting 36%. As a result, it was a 66-52 game at the break.
Since the start of the third quarter, it was all Brooklyn. Their lead blew to 23 after only having played 4 minutes. Indiana just could not keep up. Kevin Durant scored 22 points in the quarter alone. LeVert continued having a good game, shooting 12-of-18 from the field. Still, it was not enough to bring his team back into this one. Brooklyn, on the other hand, improved their field goal percentage to 71%. Thus, the score at the end of the third was 110-93.
Indiana came into the fourth quarter with a different mindset. Early on, they were able to come within 7. The game has not been that close since the beginning of the second quarter. Nonetheless, that was as close as they were able to get. During the last minute, it was back to a double-digit lead. In the end, Brooklyn demolished Indiana 130-113.
Durant and Alize Johnson – former G League player for the Raptors 905, finished the game with a double-double. Durant had 42 points and 12 assists. Behind him was Johnson with 20 points and 21 rebounds. Leading the way for Indiana was LeVert with 36 points. Doug McDermott racked up 15.
In the post-game presser, head coach Steve Nash did not hesitate to give Johnson his praise.
“It’s impressive that he can grab that many rebounds and score in a role where we don’t run anything for him,” he said. “It’s an incredible performance and I’m really happy for him given that he wasn’t in the league a month ago,” he added. “Now, he’s putting up incredible stat lines.”
