Long Island Nets cough up big lead in loss to Charge

The Long Island Nets led by as much as 13 points in the 3rd quarter Friday, but the Canton Charge stormed back for a 118-117 NBA G League victory.

Thomas Wimbush misfired on a 3-pointer in the final second Friday night and the Long Island Nets took a brutal 118-117 NBA G League Loss to the Canton Charge at Nassau Coliseum after leading by 13 points in the third quarter.

Theo Pinson, who led Long Island (18-8) with 30 points, put the Nets back in front with a 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds left after Canton (10-15) had taken their first lead since late in the first half on a 3-ball by Kobi Simmons with 26.4 seconds remaining.

But Levi Randolph knocked down a mid-range floater with 1.6 seconds to go to put the Charge back on top for good.

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With the loss, the Nets’ lead in the Eastern Conference was trimmed to 2½ games over the Westchester Knicks.

Long Island did not shoot well and surrendered 28 points on 19 turnovers, but stayed in the game with its work on the offensive glass. The Nets had 24 offensive rebounds and a 27-10 edge in second-chance points.

The Nets shot just 41.5 percent (39-for-94) on the night and made only 7-of-29 (24.1 percent) from 3-point range, but a 60-34 edge on the boards enabled them to pull out to a big lead.

Canton chipped away, getting the deficit inside double digits on a putback of its own from JaCorey Williams with 6:04 left in the game, part of a 9-0 run that trimmed the Long Island lead to 104-101 with 4:55 to go.

The Charge, an affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers, made 50.6 percent (44-for-87) of their shots, but were just 6-for-27 (22.2 percent) from deep.

Pinson, just back from a stint with the parent Brooklyn Nets on his two-way contract, had seven assists to go with his 30 points, but was just 8-for-23 overall and 3-for-11 from deep. He did make all 11 of his free throws in the game.

Alan Williams, also on a two-way deal with Brooklyn, finished with 18 points and 18 rebounds, while Okaro White went for 15 points and 16 boards — nine on the offensive window. Shannon Scott dished out seven assists for the Nets.

Tahjere McCall scored 18 points for Long Island and Mitch Creek tossed in 15.

Ransolph and Williams each scored 28 points for Canton, with Williams adding seven rebounds and eight assists. Simmons finished with 20 points for the Charge. Scoochie Smith went for 11 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

Malik Newman had three steals for Canton and Sir’Dominic Pointer logged 10 points and two blocks.

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The Nets will play the back end of a back-to-back Saturday night when they visit the Erie BayHawks at the Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Pa., for a 7 p.m. Eastern tip. The game can be seen on Facebook Live.