DALLAS - The Nets have done well lately to burnish their image as an assured group at home. They won three games at Barclays Center last week, stretching their home winning streak to 11 games. With the postseason on the horizon, the atmosphere in Brooklyn, often lukewarm, has seemed to heat up - a fact that many players have pointed out and tried to encourage.
On Sunday, the Nets were here to start a three-city trip and test how well their swagger travels. The answer, on this first leg at least, was quite well. After getting off to a sleepy start, the Nets switched on late to engineer a comeback from a 14-point deficit and beat the Dallas Mavericks, 107-104 in overtime.
The Nets inched to a game and a half behind the Toronto Raptors for the Atlantic Division lead and a game behind the Chicago Bulls for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
The game's symbolic end - the moment that sent many fans at American Airlines Center streaming into the aisles - came when Deron Williams (15 points) sank a straightaway 3-pointer with 1 minute and 26 seconds left in overtime to push the Nets' lead to 8
As the regular season winds down, the Nets have been making small, significant statements about their championship intent. They entered the game 9-8 on the road since Jan. 1, and Coach Jason Kidd shrugged about the relative mediocrity compared to their excellence at home.
'Is that a good record or a bad record?' Kidd said before the game. 'It's above .500. You can't win them all. You can only compete and give yourself an opportunity to win on the road in the last six minutes.'
The Nets did just that, and they owed a lot to Marcus Thornton, a reserve guard with a quick trigger, whose 20 points off the bench kept them close.
The Nets were down 7 as the fourth quarter got underway. Thornton hit the first two shots, both 3-pointers, to bring the Nets within 1. Williams then hit two free throws with 10:09 left to give them their first lead since early in the game. Thornton kept firing away. He hit a corner three with 7:36 left to stretch the Nets' lead to 4.
The momentum kept swinging. With 22 seconds left, Dirk Nowitzki took an off-balance fadeaway and missed the rim completely. Joe Johnson (22 points) scooped up the ball, and took it all the way to the other end, swooping past Shawn Marion and scoring at the rim to tie the score at 91-91. Monta Ellis missed a 3-point try at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
The Nets were lucky to encounter Nowitzki, who was averaging 25.5 points, on an atrocious shooting night. He went 2 for 12 and had just 10 points. Ellis led all scorers with 32 points. Samiel Dalembert had 12 points, 15 rebounds and 7 blocks.
The Nets after the game boarded a plane again to face the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night. The Nets will finish their trip Wednesday night against the Charlotte Bobcats, who occupy the Eastern Conference's seventh playoff spot.
They will move forward short-handed. Kevin Garnett, who has not played since Feb. 27 because of back spasms, did not travel with the team on Saturday and will be out at least until Friday, when the Nets return to Barclays Center to face the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They lost another key player early Sunday. About two minutes into second quarter, Andrei Kirilenko took a spill and came up hobbling after landing awkwardly on Brandan Wright's foot. He limped off the court and was soon ducking into the locker room to get examined.
The Nets said Kirilenko had sustained a 'mild left ankle sprain' - the result of an X-ray exam was negative - and he did not return to the game. Kirilenko has suffered through various ailments of late. He sprained his right ankle earlier this month and needed to miss two games then. And he missed one practice last week after bruising his left big toe.
The Nets were misfiring early on, making only five of their first 20 shots. They were 14 points behind after just one quarter. But they plugged away, getting some help the second quarter from their bench, and they headed into the halftime interval having whittled the deficit to seven points.
But they stayed close and made it competitive. Their moxie, they found, had made the trip.
REBOUNDS
The Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was noncommittal when asked Sunday whether the organization might retire Jason Kidd's number. Kidd played in Dallas for four and a half seasons and won a championship with the Mavericks in 2011. 'We'll see,' Cuban said while working out on a stair-climbing machine inside the home locker room. 'We'll find out. I don't preannounce.' ... Jose Calderon, the Mavericks' starting point guard, played just 45 seconds before taking a blow to the head. He left the game and did not return.
Posted by Unknown on Sunday, March 23, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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