Brooklyn Nets: One writer’s 10 favorite first-half Nets moments
By Phil Watson
Feb. 13: DLo takes over
In their final game before the All-Star break, the Brooklyn Nets were in a funk, having lost five of their last six games to fall back to the .500 mark.
All of the work they had done to get to a winning record after an 8-18 start was on the verge of being washed away if they couldn’t get a win over the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavaliers fought, leading by as much as 12, but Brooklyn would not go away.
It was D’Angelo Russell — who started the night by missing 10 of his first 11 shots — who tied things up late in the fourth quarter with a drive to the rim. Cleveland got three shots at it, but missed them all before the Nets got a couple of shots late.
Caris LeVert missed a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds to go and DeMarre Carroll couldn’t hit a floater after securing the offensive board and the game headed to overtime.
After Russell hit two free throws to put the Nets up 118-116 with 16 seconds to go, Jarrett Allen blocked consecutive attempts at the rim by Marquese Chriss.
But the second block found its way into the hands of rookie Collin Sexton, who scored on a drive with 2.8 seconds left to force a second OT.
Carroll saved the Nets in that second extra session, canning a step-back 3 as time expired to tie the game at 128-128.
With new life, Russell took over for Brooklyn. He scored 14 of his 36 points in the third overtime period alone and the Nets rolled to a 148-139 victory.
The All-Star scored Brooklyn’s first 11 points in overtime, a personal 11-5 burst that put the Nets up by eight. He capped the run with a pull-up J from one of his sweet spots.
He added some icing on the cake in the final minute with a deep pull-up 3.
Russell scored 28 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and overtime periods and gave the Nets a winning record at the All-Star break for the first time in five years.