It was another battle between two of the NBA’s best tankers.
The Nets and Hornets met to open the NBA season in October, and the Nets looked the part of one of the league’s worst teams this year with a 19-point loss.
This time it was a competitive battle until the end, as the Nets pulled away for a 116-103 victory with 11 lead changes Monday at Barclays Center, ending their four-game losing streak.
After a third quarter powered by rookies Drake Powell and Ben Saraf off Michael Porter Jr.’s best 3-point shooting efforts of the season, the Nets had their largest lead of the game at the time (seven points) and were tasked with maintaining it – something they have consistently struggled with.
Within four minutes, the Hornets reduced the deficit to three points.
However, the Nets went on a run and the mood changed in the arena when a Porter 3-pointer was followed by a dunk from Noah Clowney to take a game-high 10-point lead with less than five minutes to play.
And it didn’t stop there.
Danny Wolf, who didn’t score any of his 10 points until the fourth quarter, then sank a 3-pointer and completed a 3-point dunk play to extend the Nets lead to 114-100 with nearly two minutes to play.
They never lost it again in one of the best team performances for the Nets this season.
Porter led the Nets with 35 points and shot 7-for-11 from deep.
Claxton had his fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Clowney added 18.
Despite Charlotte beating the Nets bench in points, Brooklyn’s reserves came out on top.
Powell impressed off the bench with 10 points, four assists and three steals, and Saraf added seven points, including a key 3-pointer in the third quarter.
The game started off messy with an opening 3-pointer from Kon Knueppel, with the Nets appearing unsure who would guard him. Still, it remained a back and forth battle.
Charlotte’s sloppiness benefited the Nets, with a total of 11 turnovers in the first half, giving away 17 points.
Porter getting hot didn’t hurt either.
He had 17 points in the first half and kept the Nets competitive in his return after being sidelined for two games with lower back tightness.
One of Porter’s outside shots brought the Nets within one point of Charlotte and on the next possession he got a steal, finding Egor Dëmin for a dunk to take a 55–54 lead – the first of the game for the Nets – but it was short-lived.
A deep shot from Knueppel ruined it. However, as time expired, Clowney had a layup to go into halftime up 59-59.
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