LONDON — The Brooklyn Nets should think about making another franchise move — to London.
The Nets improved to 3-0 in regular-season NBA games in the British capital with a 127-110 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.
Joe Johnson, who spent seven years with the Hawks, led the way for the Nets at the O2 Arena. The Brooklyn guard scored 26 of his game-high 29 points in the first half, and nailed two buzzer-beating 3-pointers.
“We just exploited mismatches. I was just feeding off these guys,” Johnson said. “We had a lot of ball movement and took a lot of open shots.”
Three years ago, the then-New Jersey Nets played two regular-season games at the same O2 Arena, located on the banks of the River Thames and the venue used for the gold medal basketball game at the 2012 London Olympics. They beat the Raptors in both those games.
Last year, the New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons in the third regular-season game to be played in London.
Although the crowd seemed to save its loudest cheers for off-the-court action, both teams finished the game with five players scoring in double digits.
Andray Blatche added 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Nets, while Paul Pierce contributed 18 points, Alan Anderson 15 and Kevin Garnett 12.
“The ball was moving, guys were looking for each other and finding each other,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said. “Joe has been off the charts. Not just last few games but the whole season.”
Mike Scott and Shelvin Mack, both coming off the bench, led the Hawks with 17 points each. Jeff Teague scored 16 points, Paul Millsap had 13 and Pero Antic 11.
The Hawks stayed close for the first quarter, but the Nets started to pull away in the second. Anderson started an 8-0 run early in the quarter, with Pierce contributing two layups and Blatche finishing it off with a putback to make it 39-30.
“Their size and their length was a problem in a lot of different ways, and rebounding was just one of them,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said.
Johnson ended the half with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 65-53. And the Nets pulled further away in the third quarter, with Johnson again finishing it off with a buzzer-beating 3 to make it 99-74.
Although his scoring numbers dropped in the second half, Johnson has now scored 20 or more points in four straight games.
“We’ve got the best seat in the house,” Garnett said of watching Johnson put up big numbers. “When you’re so used to being in that situation yourself, it’s great to have a guy who can just take over the game.”
Besides the game, the fans oftentimes cheered wildly for the entertainment between quarters and timeouts, and for one famous guest.
During a break in the third quarter, the face of Beatles great Paul McCartney flashed up on the big screen. As the crowd roared, several kids nearby jumped into the frame to make themselves seen. McCartney, sitting behind the Nets’ bench, then squirmed his way through the youngsters to get his face back up on the giant monitor as “Hey Jude” blared inside the venue.
Thunder 104, Rockets 92
HOUSTON — Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Reggie Jackson added 23 to lift Oklahoma City over Houston Rockets.
The Thunder used a big third quarter to erase a 12-point deficit and tie the score entering the fourth. The teams stayed within a basket after that until Jackson scored five points in a 7-0 run which gave the Thunder a 97-89 lead with about 4 minutes left.
Oklahoma City scored four quick points capped by a fast break dunk by Jackson a couple minutes later to stretch the lead to 103-92.
James Harden and Terrence Jones scored 16 points each for Houston, which scored just 19 second-half points after posting a season-high 73 points in the first half — setting an NBA record for the largest scoring differential between two halves.
Pacers 117, Knicks 89
INDIANAPOLIS — Lance Stephenson scored a career-high 28 points, Paul George added 25, and Indiana won its ninth straight at home.
The Pacers have won three in a row overall and still have the NBA’s best record and the league’s top home record (20-1). Indiana leads idle Miami by four games in the chase for the Eastern Conference’s top seed.
Carmelo Anthony had 18 of his 28 points in the first quarter to lead New York. J.R. Smith, who was benched in two of the previous four games, played 28 minutes and scored 12 points. The Knicks have lost two straight after winning five in a row.
Indiana took control with an 11-1 run midway through the second quarter, then closed the first half on a 16-7 run to make it 63-48.
New York never challenged again.
By wire sources