Tag: Royce O’Neale

Player grades: Kevin Durant scores 34 as Nets beat Hawks 120-116

Here are the Nets player grades in the win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Atlanta Hawks on Friday and won 120-116. This was the first of four meetings between the two teams this season.

Kevin Durant had 34 points and five assists for the Nets and Kyrie Irving had 33 points and 11 rebounds. TJ Warren had 14 points off the bench and Seth Curry scored 11 points off the pine.

Trae Young had 33 points and nine assists for the Hawks and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 31 points off the bench. Clint Capel had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Neither team played much defense, as expected, but the Nets made more shots when the game mattered. Brooklyn had its offense flowing all night and they did a good job of staying competitive on the boards despite being undersized compared to Atlanta.

The Nets turned the ball over too much and they still struggle with defending the paint. Brooklyn led by as much as 12 points in this game despite the Hawks missing Dejounte Murray, John Collins, and De’Andre Hunter.

In the end, Brooklyn did a good job of limiting Young in the second half and Durant and Irving carried the team offensively. This was a good win for the Nets, albeit underwhelming, without Yuta Watanabe and Nic Claxton.

Here are the Nets’ player grades:

Player grades: Kyrie Irving scores 33 to lead Nets over Hornets

Here are the Nets’ player grades for their win over the Charlotte Hornets.

The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday for the second of four matchups this season and won 122-118. Brooklyn now leads the regular-season series 2-0.

Kyrie Irving scored 33 points and had nine assists for the Nets while Kevin Durant had 29 points and nine rebounds. Seth Curry scored 20 points off the bench and Nic Claxton had 14 points and seven rebounds.

Kelly Oubre Jr. had 30 points and eight rebounds for the Hornets while Terry Rozier had 29 points and five assists. Jalen McDaniels had 19 points and Mason Plumlee had 13 points.

The Nets did not play much defense in this one as they were just so good on offense that it didn’t matter. The Hornets were able to get just about any shot they wanted, but wasn’t as efficient from the field.

The Hornets had a poor performance from the free-throw line and that helped out the Nets. However, the second half got away from the Nets as they were unable to continue their offensive explosion into the third quarter.

This game got close late as Brooklyn had some trouble defending the dribble and the pick-and-roll. The Hornets were able to be carried by Rozier and Oubre Jr. until the very end.

Here are the Nets’ player grades:

Player grades: Kevin Durant scores 31 points as Nets fall to the Celtics

Here are the Nets’ player grades for their loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday.

The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Boston Celtics on Sunday and lost 103-92. This was the first of four games that the teams will play between now and March as Boston leads the regular-season series 1-0.

Kevin Durant had 31 points, seven rebounds, and five assists for the Nets while Kyrie Irving had 18 points and eight rebounds. Joe Harris scored 13 points and had six rebounds,

Jaylen Brown had 34 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks for the Celtics while Jayson Tatum had 29 points, 11 rebounds, and four steals with nine turnovers. Malcolm Brogdon had 13 points and seven assists off the bench.

Boston was essentially in control of the game from the beginning. Every time Brooklyn made a run, Boston made a play or three to quell the Nets’ momentum and go up by six to eight points.

Durant was the offense for the Nets in this game and the Celtics have too good of a team defense for one person to beat them. The Nets looked fatigued with head coach coach Jacque Vaughn going only eight players deep in the rotation. The Nets lost this game because of poor ball-handling  and poor transition defense.

Here are the Nets’ player grades for their loss to the Celtics:

Player grades: Kyrie Irving scores 27 as Nets beat Raptors in TJ Warren’s return

Here’s how the Nets did in the victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday.

The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Toronto Raptors on Friday and won 114-105. The Nets have now won four games in a row overall and have won six games in a row at home.

Kyrie Irving scored 27 points on efficient shooting and had five assists while Kevin Durant had 17 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Joe Harris chipped in with 17 big points and TJ Warren played in his first NBA game in 703 days and scored 10 points.

Pascal Siakam had 24 points and seven rebounds for the Raptors as OG Anunoby had 21 points and six rebounds. Scottie Barnes had 17 points and nine rebounds while Gary Trent Jr. score 16 points off the bench for Toronto.

The Nets won the first quarter 41-17 as they could not miss a shot behind the likes of Irving and Harris going off. The Raptors could not make a shot in the early going and they weren’t able to provide much resistance on the defensive end.

The second half was a different story however. Through a combination of the Nets coming back to earth shooting the ball as well as the Raptors finally settling in, this became a game in the fourth quarter as the Nets started coasting.

In the end, Toronto could not recover from their dismal start and it cost them as the Nets did enough to finish the game with a win. Here are the player grades for the Nets’ players:

Player grades: Kevin Durant scores 39 as Nets beat Wizards

Here’s how the Nets graded in their 113-107 win over the Washington Wizards.

The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Washington Wizards on Wednesday and won 113-107 to move above .500 for the season. This game was much closer than the first game of this regular-season series and that was because of the Wizards being essentially full strength outside of missing Rui Hachimura and Delon Wright.

Kevin Durant had 39 points (13-20 from the field) and five assists for the Nets and Kyrie Irving had 27 points and five assists. Joe Harris had his three-point shot going in this game as he went 4-6 from three-point land to help him get to 14 points.

Kristaps Porzingis had 27 points and 19 rebounds for the Wizards while Bradley Beal had 25 points five rebounds. Kyle Kuzma also had 25 points and four rebounds to help the Wizards make a game out of this one.

In a tightly fought contest all the way through, the Nets were able to win this because of how well they shot from the three-point line (42.3%) and the free-throw line (92.3%). The Wizards shot 25% from three-point land and 67.6% from the charity stripe and that appeared to be the difference in this game.

Despite out-rebounding the Nets 51-35 and outscoring Brooklyn in the paint 58-32, the Wizards were unable to stop the Nets on defense. Here are the Nets’ player grades for this win:

Player grades: Kevin Durant scores 45, leads Nets past Magic

Here are the Nets’ player grades for the win over the Orlando Magic.

The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Orlando Magic on Monday for the first of three meetings this season and won 109-102. The Nets are back to .500 (11-11) for the first time since Oct. 21 when they were 1-1 after beating the Toronto Raptors.

Kevin Durant scored 45 points (on just 24 shots) for the Nets and grabbed seven rebounds. Kyrie Irving had 20 points and three assists while Joe Harris scored 17 points off the bench.

Paolo Banchero had 24 points and five assists for the Magic while Bol Bol had 24 points and six rebounds. Franz Wagner had 21 points and Gary Harris had 19 points.

This game came down to the Nets being a better team. Brooklyn did not do much to stop the Magic from scoring, but Durant and Irving scored just enough points to bring home the win. There was a point where the Magic missed 17 consecutive shots in the first half, but that showed how depleted the Magic were.

Ben Simmons left the game in the second quarter with left knee soreness and did not return. Here are the Nets player grades for the win over the Magic:

Nets player grades: Kevin Durant, Seth Curry, carry Nets past Trail Blazers

Here’s how the Nets graded out in their 111-97 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday and won 111-97. This win brought the Nets to 10-11 and was the fifth time that the Nets swept the Trail Blazers in the regular season.

Kevin Durant scored 31 points and had 5 assists while Seth Curry scored a season-high 29 points off the bench. Kyrie Irving added 22 points.

Jerami Grant had 29 points to lead the Blazers while Jusuf Nurkic had 17 points and 14 rebounds. Anfernee Simons had 15 points, but made only four of 14 shots.

This game was tightly contested through the first three quarters. However, the Nets were able to pull away by Curry going off in the fourth quarter and the Nets locking down in the final period. Brooklyn held the Blazers to 6-19 shooting from the field in the fourth quarter as they gave Grant no easy shots and by scrambling on defense to create pressure on the Blazers.

Here are the Nets’ grades for their sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers:

Nets player grades: Kevin Durant, Seth Curry, carry Nets past Trail Blazers

Here’s how the Nets graded out in their 111-97 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday and won 111-97. This win brought the Nets to 10-11 and was the fifth time that the Nets swept the Trail Blazers in the regular season.

Kevin Durant scored 31 points and had 5 assists while Seth Curry scored a season-high 29 points off the bench. Kyrie Irving added 22 points.

Jerami Grant had 29 points to lead the Blazers while Jusuf Nurkic had 17 points and 14 rebounds. Anfernee Simons had 15 points, but made only four of 14 shots.

This game was tightly contested through the first three quarters. However, the Nets were able to pull away by Curry going off in the fourth quarter and the Nets locking down in the final period. Brooklyn held the Blazers to 6-19 shooting from the field in the fourth quarter as they gave Grant no easy shots and by scrambling on defense to create pressure on the Blazers.

Here are the Nets’ grades for their sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers:

Nets player grades: Buddy Hield scores 26 to lead Pacers past Nets

The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Indiana Pacers 128-117 on Friday as Buddy Hield scored 26 points. Here’s how each player graded individually.

The Brooklyn Nets visited the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday and lost 128-117. The Pacers had four players score at least 20 points against the Nets’ porous defense.

Kevin Durant scored 36 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter, and collected 9 rebounds while Ben Simmons scored 20 points and had six rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Kyrie Irving scored 20 points while struggling with his three-point shot.

Indiana’s Buddy Hield had 26 points, including five threes, to lead the Pacers in scoring while Myles Turner had 23 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points and 15 assists while Bennedict Mathurin had 20 points off the bench.

Indiana pulled away in the fourth quarter thanks to Mathurin scoring 16 points in the period while Brooklyn struggled to score down the stretch. The Nets had 19 turnovers to led to 21 points for Indiana and Brooklyn struggled to defend without fouling as they allowed Indiana to shoot 38 free-throws.

Here are the Nets player grades as the teams falls to 9-11:

Player Grades: Kyrie Irving drops 29, Nets beat short-handed Raptors

Grading the Nets individually after a road win over the Raptors.

The Brooklyn Nets visited the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday and won 112-98. Brooklyn is now 9-10 going into the holiday break and lead the regular-season series with Toronto 2-0.

Kyrie Irving scored 29 points (19 in the third quarter) and had three assists while Nic Claxton had 14 points and 12 rebounds. For Toronto, Gary Trent Jr. had 19 points and OG Anunoby scored 15 points.

The Nets did a much better job in this game than they did against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. Against the Raptors, Brooklyn defended the three-point line much better and with better effort despite being out-rebounded 52-39 and turning the ball over 21 times.

In the end, the Nets pulled away in the third quarter behind Irving’s masterful performance and Toronto going ice-cold from the field. Here are the Nets’ player grades: