Nets win 10th straight, beating short-handed Hawks 108-107

Updated Dec. 28, 2022 10:01 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Kyrie Irving scored 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, Kevin Durant had 26 points and a season-high 16 rebounds and the Brooklyn Nets won their 10th straight game, 108-107 over the short-handed Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.

The winning streak is the longest in the NBA this season and the Nets’ longest since they took 10 in a row in 2005-06. The 2002-03 team also won 10 straight. The franchise record is 14, set in 2003-04 and matched in 2005-06.

Brooklyn (23-12) have won 14 of 15.

Yuta Watanabe’s layup in the final minute of the third made it 81-80 for Brooklyn’s first lead since it was 33-32. Durant closed the third with a pair of free throws, and the Nets never trailed again. Irving scored eight consecutive points early in the fourth to put Brooklyn up 93-82 and cap a 17-3 run, and the Hawks called timeout.

The injury-riddled Hawks (17-18) were without leading scorer Trae Young, leading rebounder Clint Capela and starting forward De’Andre Hunter. Young was scratched before tipoff with a left calf contusion. Capela and Hunter were ruled out long before the game began.

Dejounte Murray scored 24 points and John Collins had 21 for Atlanta, which tied it at 104 on Aaron Holiday’s 3 but never took the lead in the closing minutes of the fourth. Onyeka Okongwu finished with 18 points and a season-high 13 rebounds.

Murray missed a 27-footer with 0.1 seconds remaining as the buzzer sounded.

TIP-INS

Nets: Brooklyn is 14-4 against the Hawks since the start of 2017-18, the best record against Atlanta over that span. ... The Nets have won five straight on the road. ... Patty Mills scored all 12 of his points in the second quarter. ... Nic Claxton had a career high six blocked shots. ... Coach Jacque Vaughn had no immediate update on swingman Joe Harris (left knee soreness), the only Net listed on the injury report. There is a chance he could rejoin the team later this week but remains in Brooklyn getting treatment. ... Vaughn is 21-7 since taking over for Steve Nash.

Hawks: Coach Nate McMillan had no immediate update on Capela, who’s missed five of the last six games with a right calf strain. ... The timetable is equally unclear on Hunter, who’s missed two straight games with a left ankle sprain.

UP NEXT

Nets: At Charlotte on Saturday night.

Hawks: Host Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.

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