NEW YORK _ After losing four of their previous five games, the Nets broke out of their shooting slump in a big way with a phenomenal 19-for-34 performance from 3-point range, including a 6-for-9 effort and 27-point, 11-assist game from All-Star D'Angelo Russell to lead them to a 135-130 victory over the Nuggets on Wednesday night at Barclays Center. The victory was the 29th of the season for the Nets, surpassing their total for all of last season.
After trailing by 14 points in the first quarter, the Nets led by 21 entering the fourth quarter, a remarkable 35-point swing. Denver put together a 22-10 fourth-quarter surge to cut their deficit to 131-125 when Jamal Murray made a jumper with 46 seconds left to play. Murray later cut it to four with a 3-pointer, but with only four second left, it came too late. The Nets made only three of eight foul shots in the final 1:02.
In their previous two losses, the Nets (29-27) had just three scorers in double digits, but Russell had plenty of support as DeMarre Carroll totaled 18 points and 10 rebounds, Joe Harris added 17, Treveon Graham had 16, and Jarrett Allen and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson each chipped in 15.
As good as the Nuggets (37-17) have been this season, they were swept by the Nets. The Nuggets still managed to dominate in the paint, 66-50, as Nikola Jokic had 25 points and 14 rebounds, Mason Plumlee scored 24 points, Monte Morris added 18 points, Malik Beasley scored 17 and Murray had 16 points and 11 assists.
The Nets came into the game against the second-best team in the Western Conference riding a three-game losing streak and fighting a terrible shooting slump. But the return to the starting lineup of Harris and the addition of Allen Crabbe after a 26-game absence for right knee soreness figured to give the Nets a boost.
"It helps our shooting woes," coach Kenny Atkinson said before the game. "Two excellent shooters, two guys that space the floor. So, welcoming them back into the rotation is great."
It wasn't evident in the early going as the Nuggets, who lost at home earlier this season to the nets on a Caris LeVert buzzer-beater, built a 27-13 lead mostly by going inside to dominate at the rim. Mason Plumlee had 14 first-quarter points on 7-for-8 shooting.
But the Nets put together an extended 25-8 run that carried into the second quarter to wipe out the deficit and take a 38-35 lead on back-to-back 3s by Crabbe and Treveon Graham. The Nets hit four 3-pointers in that stretch, and that's always the signal their offense is back on track.
Midway through the second quarter, the teams traded the lead seven times before the Nets went on another long run of 24-9, including 10 points from Harris, to take their own 14-point lead just before a buzzer beater trimmed their halftime lead to 72-60. At the break, they were shooting 55.8 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from 3-point range (10 of 15). When Russell hit a trio of 3s and added a layup early in the third quarter, the Nets' lead climbed to 89-68.
When Morris heated up for the Nuggets midway through the third period, he scored seven points in a 12-2 surge that cut their deficit to 93-82. That was a critical juncture given how the Nets have struggled recently, but Harris drained a 3-pointer that ignited a 13-3 Nets run to end the quarter and push their lead back to 21 points at 108-87 heading to the final period. The 78 points in the second and third quarters was the second-most in that span in Nets history.
