Nets have 4-game skid with win over Pacers – Reading Eagles

Fool me once, shame on you. But fool me twice? The Nets haven’t found out how that old adage ends.

At least not this time.

The Nets snapped a four-game losing streak with a 116-109 win over the Indiana Pacers on Halloween night. It was a much needed, proper win after Pacers upset Nets badly in Saturday’s nine-point loss.

“We have to keep fighting. That’s the most important thing,” head coach Steve Nash said before the game. “We cannot take our foot off the gas. I think we took that last timeout and we have to resist the urge to not have a winning mentality to be willing to go that extra step for each other.”

And it was a win that was met with a standing ovation from a Barclays Center crowd desperate for a quality performance from a team that could be a quality late-season team if they can get it together.

The win — Brooklyn’s second of the season against five early losses — didn’t come without drama, with the Nets blowing a 24-point lead in the first half that disappeared by the fourth quarter. It became a two-possession game after the Pacers knocked down a flurry of threes.

In fact, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving missed critical threes down the stretch, to which the Pacers responded with baskets that kept the game tied. Eventually, Irving iced the game with a floater and Durant made it out of reach with a pair of free throws.

Durant had 36 points on 13-of-22 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and seven assists. During his night, he passed Vince Carter for 19th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Next up for Durant is Kevin Garnett. Garnett’s spot is in jeopardy with less than a 300-point lead over Durant, who is averaging more than 32 points per game early in the season.

Indiana went 0-of-12 from downtown in the first period, then continued to light it up from deep the rest of the night. It looks like the Pacers are two nights away from tying the Nets’ all-time record for three-pointers made by an opponent.

Irving scored 28 points on 9-of-19 shooting, while starting center Nick Claxton had 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks.

During Monday night’s game, a group of fans were seen near the field wearing shirts that read “Fight Anti-Semitism.” Fans were sitting in the Barclays Center wearing T-shirts two days later Irving was questioned about the tweet who shared a documentary filled with anti-Semitic messages.

Sniper Joe Harris started the game in place of Ben Simmons (sore left knee) and finished with seven points and three steals with some individual defense.

“He just has a sore knee. That’s all I really know,” Nash said of Simmons. “We’ll have to watch him tomorrow but he’ll be out tonight and we’ll see how the knee is tomorrow and if he can go.”

The Pacers got 30 from guard Chris Duarte and 22 from wing Buddy Hield, but shot just 11 of 39 from downtown.

And now the Nets are off to the races, throwing off their proverbial monkey with a win over an opponent they were supposed to beat. They face a tough task at the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday in the second game of the back-to-back, but the hope is that Simmons and possibly even Seth Curry (ankle surgery) will be back in the rotation. Curry also missed Monday’s game.

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