Kevin Durant was back in the starting lineup, but it was the bench that helped the Nets turn a big deficit into an even bigger rout of the Hornets.
The Nets overcame some shaky early defense, then stormed back to blow out the Hornets 130-115 before 1,773 at Barclays Center.
Joe Harris poured in a team-high 26 points, while Durant had 25 points and 11 assists and Landry Shamet added 20 points. The Nets took advantage of Charlottes tendency to give up catch-and-shoot looks, hitting 55.3 percent overall and going 21-for-41 from 3-point range.
We did a good job just moving them around, making an extra pass here or there from a good shot to a great shot, said Joe Harris, who went 6-for-9 from 3.
Shamet and the rest of the Nets bench outscored Charlottes reserves, 49-15. They sparked a run that spanned the first and second quarter to turn the game around, as well as another in the fourth quarter to put it away.
The second unit was outstanding just matching their intensity, Nets coach Steve Nash said. And they did it in the second half, too. So they just played really hard, they played together, they were active in both their stints.
Kevin Durant dunks over Hornets forward Jalen McDaniels on Friday.
Corey Sipkin
Shamet was a plus-25, while Nic Claxton despite being scoreless had team-highs of nine rebounds, two steals and a block to finish plus-24. Even Blake Griffin who was held out Wednesday in Philadelphia, along with Durant had 10 points, five boards and took a big charge to finish plus-22.
Charlottes Miles Bridges had 33 points and Terry Rozier scored 27, but without LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, Malik Monk and P.J. Washington, it wasnt enough.
The Hornets hit 12 of their first 15 shots, taking a 27-13 lead on a Bridges 3-pointer with 4:56 left in the first. But by the 4:59 mark in the second, theyd flipped the script.
The Nets held Charlotte to 5-for-23 shooting in an extended 32-14 run, taking a 45-41 lead on a dunk by DeAndre Jordan. The big center started his second straight game, back in the rotation after the retirement of LaMarcus Aldridge.
Im going to approach it like a job. Im going to be a pro about it. Ive supported my teammates and every one of them, regardless of if I play 30 minutes, if I dont play at all, Jordan said.
Selfishly, individually, its obviously not ideal for me. But being on a team, you have to be able to sacrifice and put the team first, and Ive done that night-in, night-out. And Ill continue to do that. Because we know what the bigger goal is and what the ultimate goal is, and thats for us to reach the pinnacle.
That pinnacle is a ring.
We know what our goal is, general manager Sean Marks said. We know what were striving for. We know it was shooting for.
With the Nets still clinging to a tenuous 94-91 lead early in the fourth, Harris helped blow it open. His four-point play stretched the lead to seven with 11:13 to play, and he got a friendly roll on another 3 to pad it to 101-92.
From there, the Hornets gave up the ghost. The Nets ran away and extended their lead to 118-99 with 5:35 left on a 3 by Kyrie Irving (12 points, six assists, four rebounds).
Obviously, we want to win every game and want to play great basketball every time out, but [the No. 1 seed] is not an emphasis to us. Were not coming in with the one-seed circled on the white board, Durant said. We want to stay healthy, we want to keep defensively and offensively trying to find that groove and get everybody back, and well be fine.
