Harden leads Nets past Spurs in OT
James Harden #13 of the Brooklyn Nets drives off a screen by DeAndre Jordan #6 against Dejounte Murray #5 of the San Antonio Spurs in the second half at AT&T Center on March 1, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas. Ronald Cortes/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Ronald Cortes / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
James Harden scored 30 points, dished out 15 assists and pulled down 14 rebounds as the Brooklyn Nets got back on track with a 124-113 overtime win over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday in the Alamo City.
The Nets were up 108-98 with 2:12 to play in regulation before San Antonio scored 10 straight points, the final two on Dejounte Murray’s off-balance, scrambling jumper from just inside the arc at the buzzer that sent the game into overtime.
👀 @JHarden13 becomes first player to put up 30+ PTS, 10+ REB, 15+ AST with zero turnovers in a game since 1977-78!
30 PTS | 14 REB | 15 AST | BKN OT W pic.twitter.com/8QHgS5mNDh
— NBA (@NBA) March 2, 2021
Brooklyn scored the first eight points of the extra period and never looked back, winning its ninth game in its past 10 contests. The Nets won in San Antonio for the first time since Jan. 22, 2002, a span of 17 straight games.
Kyrie Irving added 27 points for the Nets with Bruce Brown scoring 23 and Nicolas Claxton hitting a season-best 17 points off the bench. DeAndre Jordan grabbed 13 rebounds for Brooklyn.
Harden’s triple-double was his seventh of the season.
James Harden is the first player to put up 30+ PTS, 15+ AST, 10+ REB with zero turnovers in a game!
*Since individual turnovers have been tracked (1977-78) pic.twitter.com/5Lqugr3eUk
— NBA (@NBA) March 2, 2021
Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant missed his eighth straight game with a left hamstring strain. Durant will not return until after the All-Star break.
DeMar DeRozan led San Antonio with 22 points and 11 assists, Murray and Lonnie Walker IV scored 19 each, Jakob Poeltl and Patty Mills hit for 14 apiece and Trey Lyles scored 10. Poeltl had 12 rebounds to pace the Spurs.
Brooklyn led by as many as 12 points, at 52-40, on Claxton’s dunk with 3:36 to play in the half before the Spurs again clawed back, ending the half on a 14-5 run to get to within 57-54 at the break.
Claxton led the Nets with 13 points at halftime, with Irving adding 12 and Harden racking up 10 assists in the first 24 minutes.
DeRozan led all scorers with 15 points in the half and Mills added 11 for San Antonio.
The Nets were ahead for the majority of the third quarter but never by more than six points. San Antonio’s Luka Samanic sank a 3-pointer with 4 seconds to play in the period to tie the game at 81 heading into the final 12 minutes.
Keldon Johnson, Derrick White, Rudy Gay, Devin Vassell and Quinndary Weatherspoon were held out again for San Antonio because of health and safety protocols.
