Harden, obtained by Houston on Jan. 14, began gradually before scoring 16 points in the next period. It was a sign he's finding his place at the Nets' offense after not scoring more than 21 points in some of the past four matches.
"That is who he's," Irving said. "We just need him to encounter this class and not think so much about fitting in, but only be who he is."
Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce described the match as"playoff basketball"
"That is a fantastic test for our men against a excellent team, a group that is likely to be there in the end sooner or later," Pierce explained. "I believed we had been there. We had a few miscues which we may learn from."
Durant's dunk gave the Nets a 127-121 lead to the extra period. Following Young made one of two free throws to trim Brooklyn's direct to 129-126, Durant's turnover 40 seconds remaining gave Atlanta a opening. Hunter missed a long jumper that would have tied the match.
"Tonight was a great triumph," Harden said. "We stuck with it four quarters and overtime."
After scoring just two points at the opening stage, Harden passed a scoring chance on the Nets' first possession of the second quarter. Then he looked toward the Nets seat, gestured at a shooting movement and then nodded like to affirm he must have taken the shot.
Harden made a 3-pointer to ignite his scoring spree. The Hawks called a timeout around three minutes to the period following Harden's step-back 3 over Kevin Huerter.
Nets: Coach Steve Nash is awaiting more training time with the beginning of a three-game road excursion. The match in Atlanta started a stretch of 10 of all 13 games on the road. "it is a excellent chance for us to maintain rolling," Nash explained. "We have played so many matches in a short time period. We've got a stretch today where we've got just a small bit of breathing space between matches."
Hawks: Clint Capela had 11 rebounds, his 14th consecutive game with 10. ... G Rajon Ronda (left ankle sprain) was held outside. ... There has been a pregame minute of silence to former Hawks defeat author Sekou Smith, who was 48 when he died on Tuesday because of COVID-19. Smith coated the Hawks to your Atlanta Journal-Constitution before working for Turner Sports to get NBA TV and NBA.com.
Harden missed a 3-point effort with less than a second remaining in regulation.
"I had been attempting to make some separation and eliminate a shot," Harden said. "I thought it was fairly great, only a tiny bit too long"
In addition, he has missed matches using a current bruised knee, and it has fought with inconsistent creation before appearing with a solid performance against the Nets regardless of the challenging mission of protecting Durant.
"Cam was fantastic," Pierce explained. "We had that which he attracted tonight, a downhill attacking attitude. ... He did not force anything."
Nets: Continue three-game road trip Friday in Oklahoma City.
