The Brooklyn Nets just capped off the best road trip in franchise history by beating the Los Angeles Clippers. The Nets road trip started on February 13th against the Warriors and ended on February 21st. In that span, the Nets went 5-0, beating four teams above .500. Let me break down just how good this Nets road trip really was.
The Nets, in that five-game span, put up 122 points per game as opposed to their regular 119 per game. Even after the Warriors game when Kevin Durant was announced to be out for the rest of the road trip with the Suns, Lakers, and Clippers in the distance. The Nets beat the Golden State Warriors 134-117 in regulation. Kevin Durant put up 20 points and 6 assists, Kyrie Irving gave the Nets 23 points, 5 rebounds, and James Harden put up 19 points with 16 assists in the 17 point victory.
The Brooklyn Nets then went on to face the Sacramento Kings on February 15th. The first game of the road trip without their unquestioned leader Kevin Durant and it looked like they didn’t skip a beat. The Nets won 136-125 in their second straight double-digit win. It definitely helped that James Harden and Kyrie Irving combined for 69 points with James dropping 29 and Kyrie dropping 40. After those two big wins, it was on to 3 out of the first 4 seeded teams in the western conference, and it started with the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns had their way with the Nets in the first half of the game on February 16th, the night after the Nets beat up on the Kings. The Nets were given no chance in this game with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving both out, on a back to back and the Suns riding a six-game win streak of their own at the time. The Suns had a ridiculous 24 point lead with 8:30 left in the third quarter, but the Nets strung together some clutch stops and even more clutch buckets down the final quarter and a half and scratched and clawed their way back and ended up winning the game 128-124 behind James Harden’s 38 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds, it was on to the next western conference juggernaut, which was the defending NBA Champions Los Angeles Lakers.
The Nets pulled into the Staples Center on February 18th, riding high, after that insane comeback victory over the Suns, Kyrie returning to the lineup, and riding a four-game win streak. The Lakers, unfortunately, didn’t have one of their two superstars either, as Anthony Davis had aggravated his Achilles in the previous game, so he missed this contest against the Nets. The Nets took advantage of the Davis-less Lakers, beating them 109-98, their first time holding anyone under 100 points since January 24th against the Heat. Harden had 23 points and 11 assists, and Kyrie had 16 points and 7 rebounds to secure the Nets 5th consecutive win and 4th consecutive road win. Luckily the Nets didn’t have to go anywhere because the Clippers would be coming to town to defend their home court.
The Nets took on the Clippers on February 21st and picked up right where they left off the game before. The Nets and Clippers were going back and forth until halftime, when the Nets had a sizable 58-51 lead. This game came down to the wire, but the Nets fended off the Clippers with a Deandre Jordan put back tip-in with 8 seconds left and some clutch free throws down the stretch by Jordan and James Harden. The Nets beat the Clippers 112-108 and ended the perfect road trip with a record of 5-0, beating the Warriors, Kings, Suns, Lakers, and finally the Clippers for the first perfect road trip in Brooklyn Nets franchise history.
In conclusion, the Brooklyn Nets may be just exactly what we all thought they’d be when all the superstars had a few weeks to mesh and get to know each other’s games. Just a few more stats about this road trip just to show you how great it was. James Harden over that five-game stretch, averaged 29 points, 12 assists, and 9 rebounds a game. Kyrie Irving averaged 27 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game in that span. The unsung, sometimes forgotten hero of this Nets team, Joe Harris had a great road trip too averaging 16 points on 50% shooting from the field and 50% from three as well.
The Nets are the hottest team in basketball who are on a six-game win streak and with an overall record of 20-12, good for second in the eastern conference, and will finally travel home for the first time since February 10th to play against the Sacramento Kings at 7:30 pm EST on February 23rd.
For more NBA coverage, click here.
