#Cavaliers’ Collin Sexton ruins debut for Nets’ Big 3

Kyrie Irving made his first appearance in more than two weeks, and even coach Steve Nash was anxious to see what Brooklyn’s Big 3 would look like in their debut together Wednesday.

The Nets clearly have a lot of work to do — and their 147-135 double overtime loss at Cleveland showed how much.

The Nets couldn’t slow Collin Sexton, who torched them for a game-high 42 points at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, and scored 20 straight Cleveland points spanning the first and second OTs.

“We had breakdowns all over the place,” Nash said. “So we’ve got a lot of work to do. We know that. We know we have a very offensive team right now, so we have to find ways to defend, to get connected, to be on the same page.

“That’s going to take some time. It’s definitely early as far as this new group, learning to defend together and how we can be effective defensively. That’s got to be part of our game that we’re going to focus on the most.”

It’s going to take a lot of focus, especially after the Nets allowed the worst offensive team in the NBA to shoot 51.4 percent overall, 20-for-40 from 3-point range and 6-for-7 in a 20-point second overtime.

Irving scored 37 points in his return after missing seven straight games. Kevin Durant scored a team-high 38 and James Harden had a triple-double (21 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds). But Sexton outdid them all.

“I was just doing my best to pace myself. I know it’s going to take me a little minute to get up and down a few more times. But I’m just excited for the future,” Irving said after his first game since Jan. 5. “I don’t know many teams that could put up 20 points in five minutes, but Collin got hot. I give the young fellow credit, and I give that whole Cleveland team credit: They came to play.”

After the Nets took a 125-122 lead on a pair of Harden free throws with 18.3 seconds remaining in the first overtime, Sexton — making a comeback of his own after missing five games with an ankle injury — cut the lead to one with a layup. Durant made a pair at the other end, but Sexton drilled a huge game-tying 3-pointer with just 1.2 seconds remaining to force a second OT. Then, he poured in 15 points in the final period to win it.

“That was it. He made shots,” Harden said. “We started switching a little bit more and he made some tough shots over contested hands. He made a tough shot over Ky to force, I think, the second overtime or overtime, I can’t remember which one. He made tough shots. This is a make-or-miss league, so if guys are going to be hitting shots like that, it’s gonna be tough for anybody.”

The Big 3 combined for 96 points, and 42 of the last 57 by the Nets. But the Nets couldn’t get stops when they needed and looked gassed late.

Harden logged 50:30 of playing time, Durant 50:09 and Irving 48:22.

“I think the second overtime, there was fatigue,” Nash said. “But when a guy just gets hot like that, unbelievably hot, there’s not a lot you can do, so bit of everything if you ask me, and unfortunately we didn’t close it after the first overtime.”

Irving’s first game back from personal leave started auspiciously, with the Nets racing in front and building to a 23-15 lead on Joe Harris’ corner 3-pointer. They hit their first 10 shots, the first time they had done that since April 1, 2008, against the 76ers, according to Elias Sports Bureau. But they suddenly went equally cold, missing 11 in a row while the Cavaliers reeled off 17 unanswered points.

Former Net Jarrett Allen — who was traded away in the deal that brought Harden to Brooklyn — protected the rim, and his putback leaving his old team in a 32-23 hole. The deficit swelled to 82-69 as the Nets struggled to get stops.

Taurean Prince (also part of the Harden deal) also came back to haunt the Nets, hitting a 3-pointer to put Cleveland ahead 104-92 with 7:16 left in the fourth. But the Nets closed the period on a 21-9 run, sending it to OT.

The Nets jumped ahead 118-113 in OT on an Irving 3-pointer and a Durant floater. They couldn’t hold it, however, as Durant’s free throws with 8.9 seconds remaining made it 127-124, but Sexton’s 3 sent it to a second OT — and from there, he won it.