LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — James Harden and Kevin Durant led a late fightback as the Brooklyn Nets overturned a 17-point third-quarter deficit to edge past the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
Harden and Durant combined for 47 points in a 102-99 road victory for Brooklyn, who lead the Eastern Conference with 17 wins against seven losses.
Brooklyn’s victory was sealed by a devastating burst of scoring in the fourth quarter, with the Nets overwhelming Dallas 27-13.
Brooklyn took the lead for the first time in the game with a Harden free throw to make it 91-90 with 6min 41 remaining.
Dallas star Luka Doncic twice regained the lead for the Mavericks, but a 25-foot three-pointer from Patty Mills edged Brooklyn back in front at 98-97 with just under three minutes on the clock.
A Harden layup put Brooklyn 100-97 ahead and Durant’s fadeaway completed the Nets’ scoring.
The win at Dallas’s American Airlines Center was vindication for Brooklyn coach Steve Nash, who left Harden and Durant on the court for over 41 minutes and 40 minutes respectively.
“I like to be on the court,” Durant said afterwards. “A game like tonight we were struggling a little bit and we needed a bit of juice going into the fourth quarter.
“Coach kept me and James on the court to give us an extra push and it worked.”
Dallas meanwhile were left ruing their inability to strike from distance.
Doncic led the Mavs scorers with 28 points, but Dallas paid the price for making just nine of 46 attempts from three-point range.
The defeat dropped the Mavs below .500 at 11-12, seventh in the Western Conference.
© Agence France-Presse
