Nets vs. Hawks: 3 things we learned from Brooklyn’s high-scoring win

Nick Friar
·2 min read

Through their first three games, the Atlanta Hawks had no problem scoring. Only thing was, they’d faced some lesser teams to start the 2020-21 season — or at least not ones of the same playing field as a healthy Brooklyn Nets team. But Atlanta showed their offense is no joke, making the Nets work until the very end. Ultimately, Brooklyn bounced back from their back-to-back losses with the return of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who each scored over 20 points in the Nets’ 145-141 win on Wednesday.

“I definitely need a beer,” Nets coach Steve Nash after the win.

Brooklyn will be tested by the Hawks again on Friday, but before moving onto that game, here are three things we learned from Wednesday’s meeting.

Kevin Durant was serious about addressing his rebounding

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After the Nets suffered a stunning loss at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets, Durant was not happy with his efforts on the glass. He said he was going to fix that. After taking the second half of Brooklyn's back-to-back off on Monday, Durant followed through on his promise. The forward logged his first double-double in a Nets uniform, finishing with 11 boards and 33 points -- two more assists and Durant would've had a triple-double.

Landry Shamet is here

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How's 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting -- two of those shots coming from deep and two points coming at the free-throw line -- off the bench sound? Pretty sure the Nets will take that kind of a performance from Shamet on any given night. Taurean Prince played very well offensively, too, finishing with 12 points and the same shooting line from the floor as Shamet. "I was happy for them that they kind of got their rhythm back," Nash said of Prince and Shamet's performance.

Brooklyn has some work to do on defense

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The Hawks' offense is explosive, but they didn't all of a sudden become the best team in the league. "We definitely got tested tonight," Nash said. Thankfully for the Nets, they get to see Atlanta again on Friday, so they can test out their adjustments right away. That game will be a big test for a Brooklyn team that spends so much time working on its defense.