Nets stroll past Spurs for 12th consecutive win

The Brooklyn Nets defeated the San Antonio Spurs 139-103 on Monday night in New York City, extending their NBA-best winning run to 12 games behind 21 first-half points from Kyrie Irving.

Since losing at home to the Boston Celtics on December 4, Brooklyn has gone undefeated, and with two more wins they would tie their longest winning streak in franchise history. Once before, from March 12 to April 6, 2006, current head coach Jacque Vaughn played in every game as a reserve guard as the Nets won 14 straight games.

Irving made 11 of 14 field goal attempts, including a thundering slam off an offensive rebound to open the second quarter.

Kevin Durant, a forward for the Nets, joined Irving in sitting out the final period. He had his fourth double-double of the year with 25 points and 11 assists, accounting for half of Brooklyn’s 32 total.

The Nets took a double-digit lead into halftime and never looked back.

T.J. Warren chipped in 18 points, and Seth Curry scored 16 as Brooklyn hit 62.4 percent from the field. In the course of their winning run, this was the seventh time the Nets had a shooting percentage of at least 60%.

Despite Keldon Johnson’s 22 points, the Spurs dropped to 7–10 on the season. San Antonio’s 43.3 percent shooting was boosted by Devin Vassell’s 14.

During an early 17-5 run that put Brooklyn up 25-12 with 5:11 to go, Irving scored 12 points. Joe Harris’s shot at the buzzer gave the Nets a 37-25 lead, their largest of the game.

With 8:52 remaining, Irving put the Nets up, 46-27, with a one-handed putback slam after a missed 15-footer by Yuta Watanabe. At intermission, the Nets’ lead was 74-47.

When the third quarter ended, the Nets led by 15 points (108-79) because to contributions from both Irving and Durant.