The Nets were missing their best player and many open shots in
the fourth quarter, but stingy defense and Brook Lopez’s strong
crunch-time play led to the franchise’s first three-game winning
streak in more than two years.
NEWARK, N.J.
The Nets were missing their best player and many open shots in the fourth quarter, but stingy defense and Brook Lopez’s strong crunch-time play led to the franchise’s first three-game winning streak in more than two years.
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It was fitting that Lopez carried the Nets to the 94-90 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night at Prudential Center. Lopez is the only player remaining from the last Nets’ team that won three straight (in February 2009) and he rose to the occasion with Deron Williams in Dallas, where Williams’ wife, Amy, gave birth to a son earlier in the day.
Lopez scored the final seven points of the game and finished with 26 to lead all scorers. Overall, he had 12 in the fourth and grabbed 10 rebounds in the game. Lopez sealed the game with two foul shots with 3.3 seconds remaining.
“Brook was really dominant,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said.
“I was just trying to be more aggressive and get a few more rebounds,” Lopez said.
This was the Nets’ first game on U.S. soil since Feb. 28, and they brought some of the success they enjoyed in London back with them. They won two close games over the Raptors in England – with Lopez averaging 29.5 points — and showed mettle in another nail-biter here.
After taking a four-point lead early in the fourth, the Nets (20-43) went more than four minutes without a basket. They got open looks, but their shots didn’t fall. A Lopez attempt from five-feet rolled out.
Lopez ended the drought with a short jump shot with 4:28 left that brought the Nets within 89-87.
The Nets’ defense kept them in the game. They held the Warriors nearly 13 points under their season average and to 13 points in the fourth period. Golden State scored one point in the final 4:50.
“That’s fantastic, especially against a team like that,” Lopez said. “That’s the story of the game.”
The Warriors’ explosive backcourt of Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry combined for 31 points on 13-for-37 shooting. Neither took the shot in the closing seconds with a chance to tie or take the lead.
With the Nets up 92-90 on Lopez’s three-point play, Golden State’s second-year pro, Reggie Williams, attempted a turnaround 10-foot jumper from straightaway with ex-Warrior Anthony Morrow in his face. The shot was short. Lopez rebounded it and iced the game from the foul line.
Morrow, who scored 22 points, was part of another huge defensive stand with the Warriors ahead, 90-87. Morrow blocked Curry’s layup attempt, but then lost the ball. Dorell Wright stole it and went in for a layup, but Kris Humphries swatted it, leading to a Lopez basket on the other end. Humphries had 11 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.
“Some of the blocks that Humphries had, just coming out of nowhere, it really ignites our team and the energy level rises,” Johnson said.
Humphries said he was as fired up by what took place on the Nets’ offensive end following that stop.
There was a scramble for a loose ball and some players were on the ground. Lopez retrieved it, jumped over a few bodies and scored with 2:28 left to start his game-ending run.
“I was just amped up for him, and he was able to knock down some big free throws for us at the end,” Humphries said. “He’s really matured as a player, and he’s doing a great job of closing out games for us.”
“I wanted to get the ball and put it in the basket, that’s what it came down to,” Lopez said. “Everyone had that aggression these past few games.”
And now, after more than two years, the Nets finally have won three consecutive games.
— Story by Al Iannazzone, The Record
