They said so, and Kevin Durant and James Harden responded to the long playing time

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant understands concerns about his increased playing time, given his long history of injuries, including a ruptured Achilles tendon two and a half years ago. He just didn't want to hear it.

"I know people might be worried about my playing time, I was injured before, and all that extra — but if I could play, we'd fix it," Durant said after Brooklyn's 102-99 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday. "Now, I want to play basketball."

Durant played 40 minutes and 30 seconds, including the entire second half, with 24 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Durant, 33, ranks in the NBA's top ten playing hours this season, averaging 36.2 minutes per game, the highest record since the 2013-14 season with the Oklahoma Thunder.

Durant's 32-year-old partner James Harden also finished in the top 10 with an average of 35.9 minutes per game. In this victory over the Mavericks, he played 41 minutes and 35 seconds, scoring 23 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists.

"One of the characteristics of Durant and I is that we both love to play basketball," Harden said. "So it doesn't matter. We can play a full 48 games. Even if we're exhausted. What the coach said – no. We want to stay in the game. We want to play. ”

Harden has been very persistent throughout his career until last season, when he could only play 44 games in the regular season due to hamstring problems. Another hamstring strain caused him to miss three games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, heavily impacting his subsequent series.

Durant missed the entire 2019-20 season due to an Achilles tendon injury. He could only play 27 games in the last regular season due to various injuries, but he was an Iron Man in the playoffs. He averaged 40.4 minutes per game in 12 games in the Brooklyn playoffs, and in his final three games against the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round, he played every second in two games, including a seventh overtime loss.

Durant is the NBA leading scorer, averaging 28.4 points per game, and his playing time has increased recently. In the last five games, he has averaged 40.4 minutes per game.

Nets coach Steve Nash said: "I think we're far enough away from injuries and it gives us more confidence." "But at the same time, we don't like it either. We can do all this discussion about improvements, but sometimes there are risks that will overburden him and James. We have to be careful. I'm not sure if tomorrow is right, but there will be times this season where we have to be very smart and make tough decisions. ”

Durant has made it clear that he intends to play in Wednesday's back-to-back second game against the Houston Rockets.

I'm probably going to play 48 games tomorrow. Just because," Durant said with a laugh. "Give you some talk."

However, the Nets announced wednesday afternoon that both Durant and veteran Aldridge would be absent from the game break.