The Nets were without multiple players, including Cam Thomas (hamstring), who led the Nets in points per game.
Kevin Durant (calf) and Bradley Beal (calf) of the Suns, were both listed as GTD (Game-Time Decision).
“We expect Kevin to play,” head coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game. “And Brad (Beal) is going to warm up…you know we’ll see how he feels and make the final decision between now and sixty on the clock.”
In the end, both Durant and Beal were given the nod to play.
The Suns had lost five in a row, but snapped it with a win over their rivals, Los Angeles Lakers. The Nets were coming off an impressive win over the Golden State Warriors, giving them only their fifth loss of the season.
“I think these guys have impressed the whole league,” Budenholzer said regarding the Nets. “Impressed us, no matter who plays, they bring competitiveness and edge…defensively, they’re disruptive, they get up into you. Offensively, they’ve been putting up a lot of threes…they’re driving, they’re attacking you. They look like a team that’s in a good place on both ends of the court.”
Both teams were locked together, as the Suns held a three-point lead heading into the second quarter, with a solid start from both Durant and Devin Booker.
Heading into the half, it was tied at 63, neither team could get an upper hand.
Tyrese Martin was the player who shined for the Nets, and from the bench no less, leading the team in points, with 17, shooting 5-6 from beyond the arc.
The Suns had two players take off as Booker also had 17 points, and while Durant only had 10 points, he did have three blocks in the first half.
The Suns rotated the ball, not leaning on a certain player, more focused on team distribution.
The Nets shot from three any chance they got, as they entered the game as the fourth best teams when shooting from beyond the arc with 38.6% of three-pointers made throughout the season.
Entering the fourth, the Nets had built up a big lead, having broken the deadlock to take a 96-84 lead over the Suns.
“They came at our heads early in that third,” Durant said. “They got up eight to nine points and we just battled uphill from there. Once a team…young team gets some momentum and some confidence and that dude making seven threes…that energy just extends throughout the whole team.”
It didn’t help that the Suns had double the turnovers of the Nets, and 21 fouls against them. Dennis Schroder of the Nets tallied 22 points at the end of the third.
The Suns still had time to make a comeback, with Tyus Jones having nine assists, and both Booker and Durant having at least 20 points heading into the fourth.
However, Beal went down with what looked like an ankle injury late in the 4th quarter, with the Suns down deep.
“I don’t have an update now,” Budenholzer said. “You know I think he had a couple different times where he stepped on someone’s foot. I think we’ll hope for the best but I have no update right now.”
The Suns were never able to find a way to get through that lead, as the Nets won 127-117. Martin shined, going 10-13 overall, and 8-10 from three, scoring 30 points.
Schroder finished with 29 points, and with Martin, paved the way for the win.
“Yeah, you know…credit to Tyrese Martin,” said Budenholzer. “That’s an impressive performance for anybody, you know, we were aware of him…he’s a shooter, he did tonight and then he made a few tough shots, so he had a phenomenal game, and their group overall was good, give them credit.”
Booker and Durant both scored 30 or more points, with Booker scoring 12 points from the foul line, but the Nets matched them.
“We were not our best,” said Budenholzer. “You give credit to Brooklyn; you give credit to their players they played well. We need to be better; I would like to be better; we would like to be better, but it’s not about us, a lot of its them, and we need to be better.”
The Suns fall to (10-8) the Nets improve to (9-10).
The Suns face the Golden State Warriors at Footprint Center on Saturday.
