PHOENIX — The Nets lost their leading scorer, but won the game.
Shorthanded Brooklyn will be without Cam Thomas for at least three weeks with a hamstring injury.
But they did enough to defeat Phoenix and old friend Kevin Durant 127-117 at Footprint Center.
An injury to one player creates an opportunity for another. And with this mantra, Tyrese Martin stepped up and showed his strength.
Martin scored a career-high 30 points off the bench, surpassing Jeremiah Martin's 24 points and becoming the most ever by a Nets two-way player.
He was only 5-for-18 in the first 21 games of his career, but went 8-for-10 from deep. This was one 3-point shot shy of the Nets' record for most off the bench.
“We'll be lonely [Thomas]. That being said, it is what it is. We're going to move on and play this game, fight, compete and find a way,'' coach Jordi Fernandez said.
And that's exactly what his Nets did, improving to 9-10.
Fernandez urged the Nets to play faster.
They built up a 24-11 advantage in fast break points and got out in transition to force the Suns out of their own half.
Dennis Schroder stepped up with 29 points, trash-talking Durant and even charging Starr from the first possession. Ben Simmons had 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
After Friday's loss to Philadelphia, the Nets won three in a row to close out this four-game series with wins over Sacramento, Golden State and now Phoenix.
The Suns were 9-1 against Durant, but Durant praised their play, calling himself the “Nets of a lifetime.”
“They're playing great ball,” Durant said. “I mean, people didn't expect them to come out here and beat a team like Golden State. They had some good wins all season.”
Add this to the list.
Brooklyn erased a seven-point first-half deficit and tied the Suns at 63-all at halftime. They took control of the game after the break.
The Nets stormed out of the locker room on a 17-3 run that included 12 scoreless runs from 9:55 to 6:39 left in the third quarter.
Early on, Bradley Beal got a free baseline, missed a dunk, and Simmons rebounded it and mocked the Suns star by mimicking a dunk.
After Williams stole the ball from Durant, he fed Simmons for a successful break. Simmons made a perfect pass between two defenders and back to Williams for a fastbreak dunk for a 75-66 lead.
Cam Johnson drove and kicked Schroder for a right corner 3. Schröder then made a transition layup of his own to give the Nets an 80-66 lead with 6:39 left in the third. Brooklyn spent the rest of the night defending it.
Durant finally broke his former team's record thanks to a friendly rim, a 3-point shot that bounced twice and went into the basket. However, the Nets had a serendipity of their own to end the third goal.
Former Net Royce O'Neal turned the ball over to go deep for Durant. This gave Brooklyn the ball inbounds on the baseline with 0:00.1 left and Durant received a whistle for a shooting foul on Martin, but the latter's footing could have easily been a technical. . But the review went as Brooklyn hoped, with Martin making 2 of 3 to take the lead 96-84 going into the fourth.
And the Nets used their newfound end game ability to pull off a shutout victory. Then Martin's 3-point shot widened the lead to 108-93, reaching 18 points in the fourth.
Devin Booker finished with 31.
“Yeah, they impressed the entire league. They impressed us,” said Mike Budenholzer, Suns coach and eventual candidate for Fernandez's job. “No matter who plays, they bring a competitive edge and play hard on both ends of the court. Defensively, they are disruptive and come at you. Offensively, they make a lot of 3s. But they're driving and attacking. They look like a team in a good place.”
