ATLANTA — Kevin Durant scored 32 points and James Harden had 31 to lead a productive night for Brooklyn's big three scorers and the Nets beat the Atlanta Hawks 132-128 in overtime on Wednesday night.
Harden added 15 assists and eight rebounds. Kyrie Irving scored 26 points for Brooklyn.
Trae Young had 28 points and 14 assists for Atlanta. Cam Reddish scored a season-high 24 points while John Collins and De'Andre Hunter each had 21 points.
Durant's dunk gave the Nets a 127-121 lead in the extra period. After Young made one of two free throws to trim Brooklyn's lead to 129-126, Durant's turnover with 40 seconds remaining gave Atlanta an opening. Hunter missed a long jumper that would have tied the game.
Harden stretched the lead by sinking two free throws with 4.6 seconds remaining.
Durant's 3-pointer tied the game at 106 in regulation before Kevin Huerter quickly answered with a 3 for Atlanta.
Following a foul by Young, Harden's two free throws with 2:41 remaining gave Brooklyn a 112-111 lead. Collins' three-point play gave Atlanta the lead before Irving's short jumper tied the game at 114-all.
Following a missed jumper by Reddish, Jeff Green's layup gave the Nets a 116-114 lead. A layup by Reddish tied the game again before Harden missed a 3-foot attempt with less than a second remaining.
After scoring only two points in the opening period, Harden passed up a scoring opportunity on the Nets' first possession of the second quarter. He then looked toward the Nets bench, gestured in a shooting motion and then nodded as if to confirm he should have taken the shot.
Harden made a 3-pointer to spark his scoring spree. He scored 16 points in the second period. The Hawks called a timeout about three minutes into the period after Harden's step-back 3 over Huerter.
TIP-INS
Nets: Coach Steve Nash is looking forward to more practice time with the start of a three-game road trip. The game at Atlanta opened a stretch of 10 of 13 games on the road. “It’s a great opportunity for us to keep rolling," Nash said. “We’ve played so many games in a short period of time. We have a stretch now where we have a little bit of breathing room between games."
Hawks: Clint Capela had 11 rebounds, his 14th consecutive game with at least 10. ... Reddish (right Achilles tightness) returned after missing one game. G Rajon Ronda (left ankle sprain) was held out. ... There was a pregame moment of silence for former Hawks beat writer Sekou Smith, who was 48 when he died on Tuesday due to COVID-19. Smith covered the Hawks for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before working for Turner Sports for NBA TV and NBA.com.
UP NEXT
Nets: Continue three-game road trip Friday at Oklahoma City.
Hawks: Visit Washington on Friday.
