Kevin Durant on Thursday night dropped 42 points tying his season high, added 10 assists and shot 100 percent from the free-throw line.
What took the Pacers by surprise was former Pacer Alize Johnson who made a statement on offense. Johnson came off the bench and scored 20 points along with a career-high recording 21 rebounds.
It’s no secret Johnson didn’t allocate a good amount of minutes under former Pacers coach Nate McMillan.
Johnson used the opportunity given by Nets coach Steve Nash to showcase his skill.
“I love everything about Alize, who he is as a person, his approach to the game, his work ethic, his story, his journey, everything about him. I wanted to see him do well out there. I could tell coming back to Indiana, place that drafted him, he wanted to come out here and play well. Being away from the team for a few days you could tell that was on his mind a bit, but it was a good way to welcome him back to the group; 20-20 off the bench, was just everywhere. Offensive rebounds. Defensive rebounds. Pushing the pace. I’m very excited for Alize. Glad he’s a part of our team and want him to continue to keep building on this,” Durant said, via NBA.com.
The Pacers were shorthanded without their defensive anchor Myles Turner and 2x All-Star Domantas Sabonis out with injuries.
Brogdon shot 0-for-5 from the field and 0-for-3 from the three-point line. It’s not casual for Brogdon to have an off night since he averaged over 25 points in his previous games.
Brogdon didn’t return after the first-quarter with a sore hamstring leaving Edmond Sumner and Doug McDermott to carry the scoring load.
McDermott added 15 points with Sumner giving 16 points as the Pacers shot 42.7 percent from the field.
The Pacers made a 13-2 run in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter only for the Nets to respond with a 17-7 run down the stretch.
The Pacers will face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday at 8: p.m. EST on Bally Sports.
Click on the next page for BKN vs. IND post-game highlights.