Kyrie Irving scores 28, Nets narrowly beat short-handed Hawks 108-107

The Brooklyn Nets visited State Farm Arena to face the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday and won 108-107. The Nets now lead the regular-season series between the two teams 2-0.

For the Nets, Kyrie Irving had 28 points and eight assists and Kevin Durant had 26 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists. Nic Claxton had 17 points and 10 rebounds while Patty Mills had 12 points with three three’s off the bench.

For the Hawks, Dejounte Murray had 24 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists while John Collins had 21 points and eight rebounds. Onyeka Okongwu had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 14 points and three assists off the bench.

The Nets started this game slowly as they allowed the Hawks to win the first half 63-56 despite Atlanta missing Trae Young, De’Andre Hunter, and Clint Capela. Turnovers were a high factor in this game as Brooklyn turned the ball over 12 times and Atlanta took advantage of those miscues by scoring 18 points off of those turnovers.

As has been the case throughout this season, the Hawks dominated the Nets in the paint 60-50. With Brooklyn not having much size within their normal rotation, a bigger team like Atlanta took advantage of the size differential all game long. In the end, Irving scored 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and Murray missed a three at the buzzer to give the Nets their 10th win in a row.

Here are your Nets player grades:

Ben Simmons: B-

Simmons was aggressive trying to score in the early portions of this game. However, there were a few times that he didn’t look at the rim even when he was close to the basket and had his defender on his hip. He did a decent job of helping out on the boards, but he was not as effective at passing the ball and finding open teammates as he has been.

Kyrie Irving: A

Irving hit tough shots all night and had to use his absurd handle to create some of those tough shots. His three-point shot was working once again and he even had a couple heat check moments in this game that worked in his favor. Irving was a consistent presence on the boards and he did a great job of passing the ball and finding his teammates when he drew more than one defender.

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Kevin Durant: A

Durant struggled scoring the ball in the early going, but he eventually found his rhythm as his mid-range jump shot is inevitable. As usual, he was able to shoot over most of the Hawks that guarded him, but Onyeka Okongwu posed some trouble for Durant due to his length and athleticism. After some time, Durant found a way to create space against Okongwu and draw fouls as well. Durant did an awesome job of rebounding the basketball and finding his teammates in positions to score. He even played some stout defense at the rim.

Royce O’Neale: C+

O’Neale had a solid outing. He did not have his best shooting night from three as some of the shots were shot as if his legs didn’t have much lift. However, O’Neale did a good job rebounding and his defense was underrated in this game as he picked up a few blocks as well. His best matchup was against Dejounte Murray and O’Neale stepped up to the plate in that assignment. However, O’Neale did struggle to guard some of the Hawks’ bigger players like John Collins.

Nic Claxton: B

Claxton did a great job of scoring at the rim and finishing through heavy contact in the lane. He did a good job on the glass even though he had to tussle with Okongwu and Collins all game long. Claxton also did a good job of protecting the rim and had his own personal block party. He was out of position on a few defensive rotations, but he cleaned that up as the game wore on.

TJ Warren: C-

Warren had trouble scoring in this game as the Hawks did a better job of defending him than the Cleveland Cavaliers did. Also, Atlanta made Warren work on defense and that tactic took some juice out of Warren’s legs. Warren did a good job of rebounding the ball and gave great effort on defense despite giving up some easy buckets to Murray.

Yuta Watanabe: C+

Watanabe was unable to contribute much in terms of scoring, but he provided some solid defense throughout the game. He had trouble guarding some of the Hawks’ bigger players, but he was effective in defending on the perimeter. He did good work on the glass and moving without the ball as well, but tonight wasn’t his night shooting the ball.

Patty Mills: B+

Mills did not play much in this game, but his performance during his time on the floor was crucial. His shooting was incredible and pivotal during a stretch where Atlanta could not miss no matter how Brooklyn defended them. Mills did struggle defensively, but his balanced that with his scoring.

Seth Curry: D

Curry had trouble scoring all game as he struggled with the length of the Hawks defending the perimeter. He tried his best to get something going while he was out there, but he was unable to overcome the pressure of Atlanta’s defense. He gave good effort on defense, but ultimately had trouble staying in front of Murray.

Edmond Sumner: D+

Sumner did not play much in this game as he was unable to get anything going on offense or on defense. Normally, Sumner is brought in to provide some energy and stop the opponent’s best perimeter player and he was unable to do that tonight against Murray. He did not hurt the Nets as he was a +6 and did decent work on the glass.

Story originally appeared on Nets Wire