Player grades: Kyrie Irving splashes 38 in 120-116 win over the Warriors
The Brooklyn Nets visited Chase Center on Sunday to take on the Golden State Warriors for the second and final time this season and won 120-116. Brooklyn won the regular-season series 2-0.
For the Nets, Kyrie Irving had 38 points and nine assists while Nic Claxton had 24 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocks. Royce O’Neale had 16 points and Joe Harris had 14.
For the Warriors, Stephen Curry had 26 points and seven assists while Jonathan Kuminga had 20 points and three rebounds off the bench. Jordan Poole had 17 points and Kevon Looney had 14 points off the pine.
Brooklyn had a tough time defending Golden State in the first half. The Warriors emphasized trying to score in transition and the Nets were unable to keep up. The second half was a different story.
In the second half, Brooklyn did a better job of limiting Golden State’s transition opportunities and prevented the Warriors from scoring in the paint as easily as they did in the first half. Brooklyn closed the game on a 22-6 run to get to 3-4 without Kevin Durant in the lineup.
Here are your Nets player grades:
Ben Simmons: B-
As has been the case throughout much of the season, Simmons did not shoot much at all in this game. Despite Golden State being one of the smaller teams in the NBA, Simmons neglected to drive to the rim time and again. Also, despite being bigger than essentially every Warriors besides Kevon Looney, Simmons was nowhere to be found on the glass. However, despite all of that, Simmons did a wonderful job passing the ball and played impactful defense in the second half to help keep Brooklyn in the game.
Kyrie Irving: A+
Irving had another great game scoring the ball. He was able to score from all over the floor and had some impressive drives to the basket whenever the Warriors closed out to him too hard. He did a solid job on the boards and he had some great moments of distributing the basketball. Irving was good enough on defense to not be a detriment in this contest.
Joe Harris: B+
Harris did a good job of shooting the ball in this one. As one of the team’s best shooters, Harris fulfilled his role with good efficiency. He did a good job of helping on the glass and was surprisingly good dishing the ball to his teammates for scoring opportunities. His defense was okay in this one as he played a part in Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins not shooting so well.
Royce O'Neale: A
O’Neale did a great job of shooting the ball all night long. His three-point shot was working in this one and he was able to take advantage of some aggressive closeouts by the Warriors. O’Neale was good with helping on the glass and he played some good defense that helped the Nets prevent this from turning into a blowout.
Nic Claxton: A+
Claxton was awesome against the Warriors. He was incredible with scoring the ball and finishing at the rim despite some physical play by Golden State. Claxton was a monster on the boards and was again wonderful on defense, especially protecting the rim with his newfound art of blocking shots.
Seth Curry: B-
Curry did a good job of scoring the ball in this one. His three-point shot wasn’t working that much, but he was effective in shooting his mid-range jumper and was able to create space for his shot and for his teammates. Curry was good in passing the ball and creating scoring chances for his teammates. Still turned the ball over too much and had some unnecessary fouls.
Yuta Watanabe: C-
Watanabe wasn’t able to get much going in this game as he struggled shooting the ball. He did a decent job on the glass, but other than that, he wasn’t able to provide much value in any other aspect of the game other than setting a huge screen for a Joe Harris three towards the end of the game.
Edmond Sumner: D+
Sumner was unable to get anything going on the offensive end in this one despite getting some free-throws due to being aggressive driving to the rim. He did not play much in this one as Jacque Vaughn had essentially six guys that he went to down the stretch.
TJ Warren: D
Warren did not have a good night shooting the ball. During his time on the floor, he did a decent job helping on the boards, but other than that, wasn’t able to do much else.
