NEW YORK _ A dominant performance by the Nets bench snapped their two-game losing streak and powered a 121-111 victory over the Magic Saturday night at Barclays Center. The Nets reserves outscored Orlando's bench (72-16) and were the driving force in a 24-7 run that broke open a tight game in the fourth quarter.
Center Brook Lopez led the Nets (17-59) with 30 points, but Trevor Booker was a dynamo off the bench with 23 points on 11-for-12 shooting and eight rebounds. Backups Sean Kilpatrick (15) and Justin Hamilton (13) also scored in double figures.
Nikola Vucevic topped the Magic (27-50) with 27 points and 11 rebounds, and they also got a triple-double from Elfrid Payton (20 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds) another double-double from Aaron Gordon (22 points, 15 rebounds) and 20 points from Evan Fournier.
Coming off two straight close losses to the 76ers and Pistons, Nets coach Kenny Atkinson expressed disappointment in his team's recent offensive play. "I think we're just not doing a great job of sharing the ball and making that extra pass," Atkinson said. "It caught us in the Philly game, and it caught us in Detroit. We've just had some slippage there. Hopefully, that will improve."
After opening with a slick Lin feed to Lopez for a dunk, the Nets proceeded to miss seven straight shots and commit a turnover as they fell behind the Magic by 15-5 in the early going. But they righted themselves by connecting on 12 of their final 18 shots to reach the end of the first quarter tied at 33.
The ball was moving the way Atkinson hoped in the second quarter as the Nets used an 11-4 surge that included a 3-pointer by Booker to push their lead to 54-47. They maintained that advantage with a 60-53 halftime lead after outscoring the Magic in the paint (36-16) which was the true measure of their effective passing on the interior. Although Lopez had 18 first-half points, the other four starters totaled just 10.
The Nets had an eight-point lead midway through the third period when they suffered a defensive lapse, allowing the Magic to hit eight straight field goals, including three by Vucevic, in a 21-7 run to build an 86-80 lead. But once again, the bench led a comeback with a 24-7 run, including eight points by Booker and seven from Kilpatrick, spanning the third and fourth periods to forge a 98-89 lead with 9:29 left.
At that point, the question was whether they could finish better than they did in the previous two losses.
