Spencer Dinwiddie and Nic Claxton scored 23 points apiece as the Brooklyn Nets took control in the first half, survived a shaky fourth quarter and stopped a five-game losing streak with a 124-115 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night in New York.
Brooklyn halted its second five-game losing streak of the season and won for the third time in its past 13 contests. Facing the Thunder for the second time this week, the Nets led for the final 41-plus minutes and led by as many as 32 and survived getting outscored 36-23 in the final quarter.
Dinwiddie made 7 of 12 shots as the Nets shot 45.1 percent. Besides setting a season high for points, Claxton also grabbed 13 rebounds to help the Nets to a 51-36 rebounding margin.
Cam Thomas added 16 of his 19 in Brooklyn’s 75-point opening half after going 0-of-18 in his previous two games. Mikal Bridges contributed 17 while Dennis Smith Jr. collected 13 points, 12 boards and seven assists as Brooklyn held on after taking a 16-point loss in Oklahoma City on Sunday.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 of his 34 in the third quarter as the Thunder dropped consecutive games for the third time this season. Jalen Williams added 12 of his 20 in the fourth while Chet Holmgren finished with 17 as the Thunder fell to 8-3 in their past 11 games.
Josh Giddey contributed 13 and eight rebounds and Luguentz Dort contributed 12 points as Oklahoma City shot 53.6 percent but missed its first 11 3-point tries and misfired on 22 of 31 3-point attempts.
Brooklyn shot 61.9 percent and outscored the Thunder 25-7 over the final 6:35 to get a 39-21 lead through the opening quarter. A 3 by Thomas opened a 55-28 lead with 7:38 left in the second and Brooklyn took a 75-47 lead by halftime on Johnson’s 3 with 29.9 seconds left.
The Nets opened a 32-point lead early in the third and took a 101-79 lead into the fourth. The Thunder sliced the deficit to 115-107 on a drive by Gilgeous-Alexander with 2:13 left and trailed 119-112 on a 3 by Gilgeous-Alexander with 63 seconds left.
Oklahoma City still had an outside chance when Gilgeous-Alexander’s hoop made it 121-115 with 12.3 seconds left but Thomas hit a technical free throw and Bridges sank two at the line with 9.5 ticks left to secure it.
–Field Level Media
