The Brooklyn Nets have a winning record for the first time in over 1,000 days.
It’s been a long time coming for the Brooklyn Nets.
With the 116-104 win over the Atlanta Hawks Sunday afternoon at Barclay’s Center, they move to 2-1 on the season. This is the first time the team has been over .500 for in 1,074 days.
It’s been almost two years since people could label the Nets a winning ball club . Three games into the 2017-18 season, Brooklyn looks like a winning team, at least offensively.
Allen Crabbe led the Nets with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-7 from downtown.
For the third straight game Brooklyn had at least five players in double-figures as DeMarre Carroll added 17 points. Caris LeVert and D’Angelo Russell finished with 16 apiece.
Russell also finished with 10 assists and seven rebounds.
Trevor Booker was the final Nets player in double-figures with 14 points. He also finished with the second highest plus/minus for the home team as Brooklyn shot 47.1 percent from the field.
Crabbe gave the Nets some rhythm with his 10 first quarter points after the team’s early offensive struggles.
The Nets finally tied the game at 32-32 with 8:22 in the second quarter after a Timofey Mozgov layup but Atlanta continued to play alongside the Nets and they trailed 56-53 at halftime.
Brooklyn rookie center Jarrett Allen had a strong first half showing after putting up four blocks and three points in six minutes of play.
Allen’s athleticism gives head coach Kenny Atkinson defensive hope considering the former Texas Longhorn was giving Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder some fits defensively.
Allen finished the game with four points, four blocks and four rebounds in 15 minutes of play.
With 4:15 to go in the third quarter Carroll’s 23-foot three-pointer gave the Nets their first double-digit lead in 11 quarters. They used a 6-0 run to pull ahead 83-67 with 2:40 left in the third quarter.
Leading 98-88 with 7:41 in the fourth quarter, Brooklyn saw its lead dwindle. Atlanta used a 12-1 run over the next 2:22 to take the 100-99 advantage.
However, a Crabbe three-pointer with 4:37 to play started a 18-7 run. The Nets ended the game on that run as Russell scored Brooklyn’s final seven points of the contest.
After allowing a league-high 130.5 points per game in their first two games, the Nets flipped the switch. Brooklyn shut down Atlanta for its second-lowest point total of the season.
Also, Brooklyn held the Hawks to 34 percent from the floor and 25.9 percent from the three-point line. As the Nets defense continues to improve, their scoring continues to rise above all.
Brooklyn is first in the NBA in points scored with 124.3 through three games. The team also is shooting a third-best 48.4 percent from the field.
The Nets will take their two-game winning streak to Orlando at 6 p.m. CT Tuesday as they take on the Magic for the second time this season.