MEXICO CITY _ There was no recurrence of the earthquake that shook Mexico's capital in September, but the Brooklyn Nets' world was rocked Monday afternoon by news that they had completed a trade for Philadelphia center Jahlil Okafor. Somehow, the Nets shook off the tremors with a great fourth-quarter performance on their way to a 100-95 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night at Arena Ciudad de Mexico.
The Nets outscored the Thunder 26-14 in the final period, limiting Russell Westbrook to five points in the quarter. It was the second straight win for the Nets on their three-game road trip, with only another Mexico City game remaining Saturday against the Heat.
The Nets (10-14) had five players in double figures, led by Caris LeVert with 21 points and 10 assists, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson with 17 points, Allen Crabbe with 15 and Tyler Zeller and Quincy Acy with 11 each.
Westbrook topped the Thunder (11-13) with 31 points but fell short of his usual triple-double with eight rebounds and six assists. Former New York Knick Carmelo Anthony totaled 11 points and 11 rebounds but shot 5-for-20.
Despite the upheaval earlier in the day, the Nets overcame a 16-point first-quarter deficit and fought their way back with a 13-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to take an 84-81 lead. It's fair to say the Nets held nearly everyone on the Thunder in check except for Westbrook, who made the first of two foul shots at 7:38 for an 85-84 Thunder lead.
That's when the Nets unleashed a barrage of three-pointers, with Crabbe, Hollis-Jefferson and Spencer Dinwiddie hitting in succession for a 93-85 lead. Dinwiddie was fouled but missed the free throw and a chance at a four-point play.
The Thunder moved within 94-91 on a jumper by Anthony at the 3:11 mark, but Dinwiddie responded with an emphatic dunk at 1:51 and the Nets held on from there despite two egregious shot-clock violations in the final 1:10.
News of the Okafor trade broke in the middle of the afternoon. As if playing two home games this week in a foreign country wasn't enough of a challenge, the Nets found themselves bidding goodbye to Trevor Booker, who flew out to Philadelphia, and to Sean Kilpatrick, who was waived to make room for shooting guard Nik Stauskas, who moved with Okafor to the Nets in the trade.
Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said he and general manager Sean Marks "had a long discussion with (Booker). It was mutual respect. I told him how much we appreciated coaching him. I can't imagine two guys (including Kilpatrick) handling it with more class."
The Nets had only 10 healthy bodies on the bench, which hardly seemed enough to contain the mercurial Westbrook, but the Thunder also was missing injured star Paul George (calf contusion). The Thunder led by as many as 16 points in the first quarter, and the Nets' circumstances grew more desperate when Dinwiddie went to the bench with four fouls with 9:16 left in the second quarter.
But LeVert came off the bench to pick up the slack for Dinwiddie and had 13 points and six assists in the first half as the Nets hung within striking distance, trailing 58-49 at halftime. The Nets proceeded to open the third quarter with a 12-2 run, including four points each from DeMarre Carroll and Hollis-Jefferson, whose layup at 6:51 put the Nets in front 61-60.
Just before that go-ahead basket, Dinwiddie picked up his fifth foul with 7:37 left in the third quarter, but the teams then traded the lead back and forth in an entertaining display that had a sellout crowd of 20,562 oohing and aahing. At one point, the lead switched as Quincy Acy and Crabbe sandwiched three-pointers around a three by Westbrook.
A three by Crabbe gave the Nets a 71-70 lead with 3:14 left in the period, but the Thunder ran off nine straight points, including seven by Raymond Felton, to regain control at 79-71. But Acy's three trimmed the Nets' deficit to five points heading to the fourth quarter.
