SAN ANTONIO (AP) — While Kevin Durant has to sit down, James Harden keeps stepping up.
Harden had 30 points, 15 assists and 14 rebounds and the Brooklyn Nets overcame a collapse in the final seconds of regulation to beat the Spurs 124-113 in overtime on Monday night, snapping a 17-game losing streak in San Antonio.
Harden had his seventh triple-double in 22 games with Brooklyn since being traded from Houston, where he plays again Wednesday.
“Honestly, I just try to find ways to impact the game and not just scoring the basketball,” Harden said. “We have a number of guys that can put the ball in the basket. Just being a distributor of getting guys shots, getting guys easy buckets.
“I feel like it’s my job. Just playing the game right way, not forcing anything, trying to make the right play, trying to get guys shots. That’s kind of my mindset every single game and it’s been working.”
Despite recent injuries to Durant and Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn remains second in the Eastern Conference at 23-13.
Irving added 27 points and Bruce Brown had 23 for Brooklyn, which bounced back after a loss to Dallas on Saturday ended its eight-game win streak.
The Spurs closed the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run to force overtime, with 3-pointers by Lonnie Walker IV and Patty Mills and a driving layup by DeMar DeRozan.
“I thought they were great,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “Really worked hard. They have dug down deep all year and never gave up.”
Spurs point guard Dejounte Murray tied the game at 108 to close regulation after initially losing the ball near the 3-point line while attempting to drive to the paint. Murray was able to gather the loose ball behind him, quickly turning and rising to hit a 21-footer with Harden defending as time expired.
“We felt like we gave up that lead too easily down the stretch,” Irving said. “Just a few miscues, a few miscommunications. Just things that we want to clean up. We’ve just got to take this one on the chin. I don’t want to call it laziness, but just our focus level wasn’t matching the intensity in terms of where San Antonio was trying to get back in the game.”
Brooklyn scored the first eight points of overtime to regain command and went on to win a regular-season game in San Antonio for the first time since Jan. 22, 2002.
DeRozan had 22 points and 11 assists, while Murray and Walker each had 19 points. All five starters scored in double figures for San Antonio.
Playing just their second game since being sidelined for two weeks by health and safety protocols due to COVID-19, the Spurs got off to a sluggish start against the active Nets.
San Antonio is still without Rudy Gay, Keldon Johnson, Derrick White, Devin Vassell and Quinndary Weatherspoon, who are sidelined due to the league’s health and safety protocols.
