Brooklyn Nets: Flatbush Outpaces Indiana at Barclays

From the desk: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

YEAR TEN

FRIDAY

Pacers  98

NETS   105

FINAL

Steve Nash Reminds Refs How To Blow Their Whistles

James Harden left little for the naysayers to wrangle over.  In control of his own narrative again, Harden led the floor with 29 points and distributed a game-high eight assists.  

Meanwhile, Steve Nash appeared to clarify matters for the referees as well.  Harden had attempted just 15 total free throws through the season's first five games.  After Coach Nash's powwow with the whistleblowers, Harden scored 16 points on a season-high 19 attempts from the line.

Brooklyn got off to their obligatory poor start as the Pacers jumped out to a 38-26 first-quarter lead.  Afterwhich, Flatbush started dropping shots and clamping down on defense.  Indiana was held to just 17 points in the second quarter and 19 in the third.

Kevin Durant scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half, then handed off duties to Harden and LaMarcus Aldridge.  Durant still tied for game-high with eleven rebounds and finished with seven assists in 37 minutes.  

LaMarcus Aldridge was 10/16 from the field en route to 21 points with eight rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench.  It marks the second time in five games this season he has exceeded 20 points.  

With over 15 years in the league, LaMarcus Aldridge became the 48th player in NBA history to achieve 20,000 career points on Friday.

Through six games, Kevin Durant is now averaging 35.3 minutes per game.  But truth be told, after playing 30 minutes in the season's first game against the Bucks, Durant has since averaged 36.4 minutes and also played both games of game-to-back nights against the Hornets and Wizards.  He is yet to sit out for maintenance.

Steve Nash, for the third time, started Blake Griffin together with Bruce Brown.  But Griffin's troublesome start continues.  He scored just three points against the Pacers and secured three rebounds.  He was just 1/7 from the floor and is now a mere 6/24 (25%) through five starts.  He has so far converted just two shot attempts in two different games and just one shot in each of his other three starts.

The Nets next host the Detroit Pistons on Halloween.