Brooklyn Nets: One writer’s 10 favorite first-half Nets moments
By Phil Watson
Jan. 18: The art of the comeback
A team that had more than its share of losing large leads early in the season returned the favor in a Jan. 18 game at Orlando.
The Brooklyn Nets trailed the Orlando Magic by 21 points in the second quarter before rallying late in the first half to cut the margin to 13 at the break.
After falling behind by 18 points in the third quarter, the Nets started carving away at the deficit, with point guard D’Angelo Russell leading the charge. He had 31 points through three periods as the Nets trailed by nine.
He wasn’t done. Not by a long shot.
Brooklyn trailed 111-109 with 2:09 to go and the teams traded empty possessions for more than a minute before Spencer Dinwiddie knocked down a corner 3 with 54.9 seconds remaining to put the Nets ahead for the first time since it was 2-0.
Dinwiddie converted a four-point play, as he had been fouled by Orlando’s D.J. Augustin on the release, but Nikola Vucevic tied it with a nifty hook shot in the lane at the other end.
After a timeout, Russell banged home a huge step-back 3, freezing Evan Fournier with a jab step and firing with 27.1 seconds left.
Brooklyn caught a break when Terrence Ross missed the second of three free throws with 22.5 seconds remaining and hung on for a 117-115 victory.
Russell ended up matching a career-high with 40 points in a performance that may have sealed his spot in the All-Star Game.