The Nets put together a five-game winning streak last week by stringing together several quality defensive performances in a row.
But their defense couldn’t contain one of the league’s best offensive teams last night, as the Thunder opened up a double-digit lead thanks to a scorching first half and held on for a 117-111 victory in from of a sellout crowd of 17,732 at Barclays Center.
Despite finishing the game shooting over 60 percent from the field, the Thunder couldn’t pull away from the Nets, who were without big men Brook Lopez (sprained right foot) and Reggie Evans (flu), because of a superhuman performance from Deron Williams.
Williams had admittedly been struggling with his shooting for much of the season coming into the game. But the star point guard, who said after Saturday’s loss in Miami that he was looking forward to getting a couple days off, looked like a new person against the Thunder, finishing with a season-high 33 points on 12-for-23 shooting to go along with four rebounds and seven assists.
Going up against Russell Westbrook in a matchup of two of the best point guards in the league, Williams more than did his part to live up to his end of the bargain. He spent the night getting whatever he wanted all over the court, hitting several long-range 3-pointers and having little trouble getting into the lane.
But despite impressive first halves from Williams (12 points) and Andray Blatche (13 points and six rebounds) the Nets (11-6) still found themselves in a hole at halftime because of a spectacular offensive showing from the Thunder in the first half.
Oklahoma City (15-4) couldn’t miss in the opening half, and was led, as always, by the superstar duo of Kevin Durant and Westbrook. While Williams was going off in the first quarter, scoring 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting, Westbrook did his best to match him play, finishing the quarter with 10 of his 25 points on the night.
But after the Thunder went 12-for-18 from the field as a team in the first quarter, Durant caught fire in the second, scoring 14 points on a perfect 5-for-5 from the field to help give the Thunder a 61-49 lead going into the break.
A shot Durant didn’t make, though, was his most impressive play of the game. Late in the first half, Durant leapt from just inside the foul line on the right side and soared towards the rim to try and throw down a huge slam dunk.
Andray Blatche gamely tried to step in and take a charge, but Durant nearly leapt completely over him and fired the ball at the rim from a few feet away. He nearly made the shot, and then went to the line for two foul shots to cap the scoring in the first half.
But despite the Thunder’s hot shooting, Williams lifted the Nets onto his back and carried them back into the game in the third quarter. He finished the quarter 4-for-6 from the field and 4-for-5 from the foul line to score 13 of the 38 points the Nets would score in the quarter.
The hot shooting from Williams, along with a sudden hot streak from several of his teammates, allowed the Nets to go on a 26-15 run to end the quarter after falling behind by 15 early in the third, and entered the fourth trailing 90-86.
The Thunder quickly jumped out to a 98-89 lead early in the fourth, but the Nets slowly climbed their way back into the game, getting to within two at 104-102 with 4:12 left on a Kris Humphries and-one.
From there, it became a shooting match between Durant and Joe Johnson, with the two of them trading baskets down the stretch for their teams. The Thunder pulled ahead for good when Durant’s attempted layup was goaltended by Kris Humphries, giving them a 110-106 lead with 1:52 remaining.
The next two trips down the Nets had chances, but a missed 3-pointer from Gerald Wallace and a missed runner from Williams left them with their second loss in a row, and dropped their home record to 7-2.
tbontemps@nypost.com