Nets rally for win over Mavericks that hurts lottery odds
The Nets pulled out a come-from-behind 113-109 victory in Dallas — and their first winning streak in nearly two months.
Trailing by as many as 10 — and 107-105 with 1:17 left — the Nets outscored the Mavericks 8-2 down the stretch before a sellout crowd of 19,790 at American Airlines Center.
Nets fans can argue whether the victory was Pyrrhic.
Brooklyn (25-51) is sixth in the lottery standings, and fell 1 ½ games behind fifth-place Philadelphia, which appears intent on losing the rest of its games.
But after a hard-fought result — with 19 lead changes and 16 ties — the Nets won’t care.
They got 24 points from Keon Johnson, and D’Angelo Russell added 18 points, 11 assists and the and-one that put the Nets ahead for good.
Down 107-105 with 1:17 to play, Russell hit the go-ahead and-one.
Then after Trendon Watford’s lunging rebound of an Anthony Davis miss, Russell’s slick no-look pass set up Nic Claxton.
The center beat Davis for an and-one, giving the Nets their largest lead of the night at 111-107 with 47.6 seconds left.
Claxton blocked former teammate Spencer Dinwiddie going for a dunk, but Johnson’s ill-advised one-on-two break got blocked by Caleb Martin.
P.J. Washington’s free throws with 31.6 seconds on the clock halved the Nets’ lead.
After Johnson’s turnaround came up short, Dallas had one last chance.
But the Nets survived 3-point looks first by Klay Thompson and then Dinwiddie, and Jalen Wilson — a Dallas-area native — iced it at the line.
The Nets were locked in an 84-all deadlock in the waning seconds of the third quarter.
But they allowed a 10-0 run that spanned into the fourth.
Tyrese Martin found Dariq Whitehead for a dunk that tied the game at 84-all with 27 seconds left in the third.
But after Watford blocked Davis, the Mavericks got the ball back and Hardy drilled a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds in the period to start the run.
Marshall’s midrange capped it, and let the Nets down 94-84 with 9:53 to play.
It was still a 10-point deficit when the Nets reeled off a dozen unanswered.
Watford rebounded a Thompson miss and fed a streaking Johnson for a dunk that put the Nets ahead 100-98 with 4:31 remaining.
It was knotted at 100-all and 103-all.
But Drew Timme — another Dallas native — had six points in the fourth, while Davis and Thompson combined for just two.
And down by two, the Nets won it with an 8-2 run to close it.
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