OKLAHOMA CITY — The Thunder fans showered Kevin Durant and James Harden with boos, giving it to the two stars they used to cheer for.
Then Durant and Harden — in their first game together in OKC since Harden was traded away in 2012 — gave it to their former team, lifting the Nets to a 120-96 laugher before a disappointed crowd of 15,080 at Paycom Center on Sunday.
“They’ve been playing well. They’d won four straight prior to this game. We didn’t take them lightly, and came out and tried to play very good Brooklyn Nets basketball on both ends of the ball,” Harden said. “I think we did that.”
Durant shrugged off a sore shoulder to pour in 33 points to go with eight rebounds, while Harden added 16 points and 13 assists.
Thanks to 29 points off the bench from Patty Mills, it was a perfect way for the Nets (10-4) to cap a 5-1 road trip, one that lifted them into a virtual first-place tie in the East with the Wizards.
“Yeah, seeing that tweet before the game, it’s crazy how stuff happens. Never thought when James got traded, I didn’t know what the future would hold. And for us to come back around on the same team as we got older is pretty sweet,” Durant said. “Coming here and [getting] the love that we got from the fans, you just know that we put in a lot of work here. We helped build this thing.”
Durant talked about the fans’ love with a straight face. That didn’t sound like love; that sounded more like the other thing.
Asked if he was still shocked at getting booed in OKC after almost a decade — especially considering he was traded away — Harden shrugged off the jeers.
“I don’t know. I don’t really care, honestly. I don’t know why. It wasn’t my fault,” said Harden, who claimed the return held no special meaning. “No, I was just trying to come in and win a game. For me, it’s been a long time.”
About the only negative for the Nets was an injury to Joe Harris. He checked out with 3:05 left in the first half and never returned, ruled out with a sprained left ankle.
But by that time, the Nets led 55-43. It never got closer than seven the rest of the night, or than eight in the second half. The Nets held OKC at arm’s length to win for the eighth time in their last nine games.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with 23 points. But the Nets took advantage of the Thunder’s lack of outside shooting, holding them to 40 percent overall and 14 of 45 from deep.
With Harris out, Mills stepped up and hit 9 of 12 from deep.
The Nets trailed 37-33 after Aleksej Pokusevski’s putback. But they mounted an extended 20-4 run to take command once and for all.
Consecutive 3s from Mills and LaMarcus Aldridge capped the spurt and put the Nets ahead by 12.
When Mills drew a charge on Luguentz Dort (20 points), it sent the defensive-minded guard to the bench with a fourth foul with 2:46 left in the half. That was a boon for Brooklyn, with Harden’s three-point play sending the Nets into intermission up 61-48 — their biggest road halftime lead this season.
The Nets just built on it in the third, with Durant’s free throws padding the lead to 90-74 going into the fourth where it grew from there. After his league-high seventh 30-point outing — and going 13 of 14 from the foul line — Durant shrugged off his sore shoulder.
“It’s solid. A little sore here and there, but I played, didn’t get in the way too much. Keep getting treatment and take it a day at a time,” Durant said.
“He’s got a little tweak,” Nash said, “but the ball still goes in the hole so I think he’s hanging in there.”