ATLANTA — Kevin Durant was his usual dominant self on offense, with 26 points and eight assists. But it was his defense that had him fired up, pumping his fist and roaring.
The four-time scoring champ grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, and added two blocks. On one he blocked a shot by Dejounte Murray, then chased down the loose ball and dove into the stands, deflecting it off a Hawk to force a turnover.
Asked about it, he burst into a Cheshire cat grin.
“I was more fired up about that I was able to save it,” Durant said after the Nets’ 108-107 win over the Hawks. “Yeah, the block was cool, but being able to still recover the ball and get his possession. I think that was the fun part. I don’t get a lot of opportunities to make that dirty play like that.
“You sort of feel good to get my hands dirty a bit, get on the floor, get a couple of floor burns. So it ignites our team, that just deflates their team a little bit, it just does a lot. So, as much as I can try to just make plays defensively. I try to do it and change momentum a little bit.”
Jacque Vaughn reshuffled his rotations with Seth Curry coming back from injury Wednesday night and Joe Harris might not be that far behind.
Curry returned after missing the victory in Cleveland with a non-COVID illness. Harris stayed home nursing a sore left knee. He missed a third straight game, and his status for Saturday’s New Year’s Eve tilt in Charlotte is still up in the air.
“No, no more clarity. With the two days in between, he’s still back in Brooklyn. We’ll check with him [Thursday] as he continues to get treatment. But no, no further update yet,” said Vaughn, who wouldn’t commit to whether Harris could meet up with the team for Friday’s practice before their game in Charlotte.
“Yeah, well, [Thursday] we have some more information. [Thursday] will be a recovery day off anyway, so it won’t impact the entire group. The day after that, we could practice a little bit before heading to Charlotte. So hopefully [Thursday] we have some more.”
Nic Claxton tied a career high with six blocks.
David Duke Jr., Kessler Edwards, Day’Ron Sharpe and Alondes Williams were all out, on G-League assignment. Undrafted Donovan Williams has played well for Long Island.
Atlanta was without starters Trae Young, Clint Capela and De’Andre Hunter. Young was scratched with a left calf contusion suffered in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s loss to Indiana. Center Capela has a right calf strain and Hunter has a left ankle sprain.
The Nets — 21-7 under Vaughn — vaulted into second place in the Eastern Conference, jumping half-game ahead of the Bucks.
Brooklyn is 17-3 in their last 20 games, tying the best 20-game stretch in franchise history. They have won six straight road games, tied for the longest road win streak in the league this season. The Nets also are an NBA-best 11-1 this month.
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