NBA: Nets stroll past Spurs for 12th consecutive win
Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets gestures during the second quarter of the game against the San Antonio Spurs at Barclays Center on January 02, 2023 in New York City. Dustin Satloff/Getty Images/AFP
Kyrie Irving scored 21 of his 27 points in the first half as the Brooklyn Nets took control early and easily extended the NBA’s longest winning streak to 12 games with a 139-103 rout of the San Antonio Spurs on Monday in New York.
Brooklyn remained unbeaten since a home loss to the Boston Celtics on Dec. 4 and moved within two of matching the longest winning streak in team history. The Nets have won 14 straight twice and last achieved the feat March 12-April 6, 2006, when current coach Jacque Vaughn appeared in every game as a reserve guard.
Irving shot 11 of 14 from the field, including a thunderous dunk off an offensive rebound early in the second quarter.
Like Irving, Nets forward Kevin Durant also sat out the fourth quarter. He collected 25 points and 11 of Brooklyn’s 32 assists for his fourth double-double of the season.
The Nets scored 74 points by halftime and led by double-digits for all of the final three quarters.
Postgame scenes
🤝 @KMbappe @AchrafHakimi pic.twitter.com/rZKgbGjb78
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 3, 2023
T.J. Warren added 18 points and Seth Curry contributed 16 for Brooklyn, which shot 62.4 percent. It was the fifth time the Nets shot at least 60 percent, and each instance occurred during the winning streak.
Keldon Johnson scored 22 points as the Spurs lost for the seventh time in 10 games. Devin Vassell added 14 for San Antonio, which shot 43.3 percent.
Irving scored 12 points in an early 17-5 spurt that put Brooklyn up 25-12 with 5:11 remaining. The Nets then took a 37-25 lead on a jumper by Joe Harris right before the horn to end the first.
Irving’s one-handed putback dunk off a missed Yuta Watanabe 15-footer brought the Brooklyn reserves to their feet and staked Brooklyn to a 46-27 lead with 8:52 left. The Nets held a 74-47 lead entering halftime.
Irving and Durant combined for 15 points in the third as the Nets carried a 108-79 margin into the fourth.
