NEW YORK _ On Saturday in Miami, Kenny Atkinson was in a quandary after watching his team fall apart for the third straight game against a losing team and seemingly lose touch with the midseason mojo that carried the Nets into surprising playoff contention. But whatever the Nets had lost, they found it again after lineup changes by Atkinson triggered a 127-88 blowout of the Mavericks on Monday night at Barclays Center.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak in impressive fashion as the Nets (33-33) got back to the .500 mark. They led by as much as 27 points in the third quarter and then opened the final period with a 20-2 run for a 44-point lead at 119-75. They went 4-for-4 from 3-point range in that stretch as rookie Rodions Kurucs had eight of his 19 points after making his first start at power forward. Caris LeVert, who returned to the bench in favor of Allen Crabbe at shooting guard, had seven of his 18 points in that span.
DeMarre Carroll led the Nets with 22 points of the bench, Spencer Dinwiddie added 16 and D'Angelo Russell had 13 points and 11 assists. Dwight Powell topped the Mavs (27-36) with 20 points, and Dirk Nowitzki scored four points in what likely was his final game against the Nets. Defense was much improved as the Nets held the Mavs to 36 percent shooting, and 27.3 from 3-point range (12 of 45), and they had a 48-36 rebounding advantage. The Nets shot a torrid 56.5 percent from the field, including 41.5 percent from 3 (17 of 41).
