Player grades: Kevin Durant drops 30 as Nets beat Wizards 112-100
The Brooklyn Nets paid a visit to the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on Monday and came away with a convincing 112-100 victory. The Nets now lead the regular-season series 3-0.
For the Nets, Kevin Durant had 30 points and nine rebounds while Kyrie Irving had 24 points and five assists. TJ Warren had 12 points off the bench and Joe Harris had 11 points.
For the Wizards, Will Barton had 22 points and seven assists off the bench while Kyle Kuzma had 20 points and seven rebounds. Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points and three rebounds (before leaving the game with back tightness) and Jordan Goodwin had 11 points.
This was a convincing win for the Nets as they led for much of the game behind the play of Durant and Irving. Nic Claxton got into foul trouble in the first half trying to guard Porzingis and with Claxton out of the game, the Wizards were able to attack the rim with good success. The Nets lost the rebounding battle to the Wizards 44-41 and that’s what kept Washington in the game for as long as they did.
Brooklyn added seven blocks to their resume as the best shot-blocking team in the NBA and that was surprising given that Claxton did not play his usual minutes because of foul trouble. The Nets took advantage of scoring in transition and trying to score in the paint whenever possible.
Here are your Nets’ player grades:
Kevin Durant: A
Durant got wherever he wanted to get to on the floor. Throughout this season, he has always been efficient with his touches and this game was no different. Durant was doing everything from making mid-range jumpers to getting to the free-throw line to even hitting three’s at an efficient clip. Eventually, the Wizards changed up their coverages of Durant by doubling him and Durant did a good job of finding the open man in that situation.
Kyrie Irving: A
Irving did a great job of hitting tough shots all game long. The Wizards were trying to pressure Irving’s dribble and took that as a chance to get to the rim or to create space for his variety of pull-up jumpshots. Irving struggled shooting the three ball, but he did a good job of trying other ways to make an impact offensively like drawing fouls and attacking the rim. Not known as a defender, Irving did a good job of competing on the defensive end and even came away with some good plays in the process.
Ben Simmons: C+
Simmons started off this game slow on offense as he was passing up some shots at the rim in the early going. He has had issues with passing up shots that he should take and when he does that, it usually leads to the offense slowing down or result in turnovers. As the game went on, Simmons did a better job of attacking the rim and putting pressure on the Wizards to make a decision on how to defend his drives. He also did a good job of rebounding and facilitating the offense as well.
Nic Claxton: C
Claxton started this game extremely slow as he was in foul trouble for the entire first half. It looked like he had a tough time guarding Porzingis because of the height differential and the fact that Porzingis tries to shoot over everyone and will make you pay for guarding him too close. Claxton found a rhythm in the second half as he didn’t commit a foul in the second half and was able to stay on the floor long enough to get into the flow of the game. Claxton did a good job of finishing at the rim and being a force on the glass.
Joe Harris: B-
Harris had a good game scoring the basketball, but he didn’t shoot too many shots even though the ball was coming his way when Durant or Irving were being double-teamed. Harris did make most of his shots when his time came and he even drove to the rim a few times for some good finishes. Harris did have some trouble defending in space, but he did a good job of being the help defender.
Markieff Morris: D
As the first player off the bench for the Nets,Morris provided solid minutes in the first half as he helped stretch the floor so that Durant and Irving could break down their defenders on the dribble. Morris did a good job of helping out on the boards, but he did have a couple of turnovers in the few minutes that he played and that tends to be why he doesn’t play extended minutes.
Seth Curry: D
Curry was cold all game as he was unable to find much space for his jumpshots, but he did try to shoot whenever he could. Curry had a rough time creating space for his shots, but with the length of the Wizards, he had a tall task ahead of him in this game.
Yuta Watanabe: C-
Watanabe had some struggles in this game. In addition to not being able to hit most of his shots, Watanabe had a tough time doing anything with the ball. Watanabe had issues handling the ball or doing anything with it as every possession looked like he was knocking off rust, which he very well could be. Despite all of that, he was all over the place on the floor and brought the energy that the Nets needed to keep the pressure on the Wizards throughout this game.
Edmond Sumner: B
Sumner did a good job of pushing the pace as the game wore on. Sumner usually lets someone like Simmons or Irving handle the ball up the floor, but in this game, he tried to get the ball up the floor fast so that the Nets could get as many transition opportunities as possible. Even though it didn’t always end well, Sumner did put pressure on the rim to force the Wizards to make choices on how to protect the rim. He also played some good defense on the perimeter and he found the open man more than a handful of times.
Cam Thomas: D
Thomas wasn’t much of a factor in this game as he was unable to get many of his shots to fall. He had trouble creating space against the Wizards’ defense and it led to him looking uncomfortable on the offensive end when it came time to make decisions with the ball. Thomas did make an effort to shoot when his shot became available and he did get to the foul line a good amount, but he struggled to find a rhythm in this game.
TJ Warren: B+
Warren did a great job scoring the basketball. Most of his buckets came off of broken plays or offensive rebounds, but Warren was ready to shoot when his number was called. He also hit some tough shots which is tough to ask a bench player to do, but Warren is an elite scorer when healthy. He contributed all over the floor as he helped out rebounding the basketball and finding the open man as the defense shifted.
