NEW YORK _ For one half, the Nets went toe-to-toe with Russell Westbrook and the Thunder as each of the first two periods ended with the score tied. But a third-quarter meltdown took the Nets out of the game, and they lost a chance to prevent yet another triple-double by Westbrook when he grabbed his 10th rebound with 4:41 left in a 122-104 victory by Oklahoma City on Tuesday night at Barclays Center.
The fans who braved the aftermath of a severe winter snowstorm to attend were treated to an entertaining game, and it was clear many were there to see and cheer Westbrook. They chanted "MVP" several times when he was at the foul line, and a big roar went up when he got the rebound he needed for his 33rd triple-double of the season.
Westbrook totaled 25 points, 19 assists and 12 rebounds, and the Thunder (38-29) got 21 points from Victor Oladipo, 17 from Taj Gibson and 17 off the bench from Enes Kanter. Oklahoma City had a 20-9 edge in second-chance points.
Brook Lopez led the Nets (12-54) with 25 points, and they got 24 from Jeremy Lin, 16 from Caris LeVert and 13 from Randy Foye. The Nets shot 50 percent from 3-point range (12-for-24).
Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said he was looking forward to the challenge of playing Westbrook and a playoff team like the Thunder to see if the Nets had improved as much as their 3-4 mark in the previous seven games suggested. By halftime, Westbrook had 13 points, 11 assists and needed just three more rebounds for his 33rd triple-double of the season.
Yet, the Nets were tied with the Thunder at 62 after shooting 57.5 percent overall, including 70 percent from 3-point range (7-for-10). Although the Nets trailed by 10 in the second period, Lopez, Lin and LeVert combined to score the Nets' final 12 points of the half to forge the tie.
This marked the 10th game of Lin's return from the injury list, and his presence clearly had improved the Nets' offensive execution while also helping them settle into a regular starting rotation of Lin, Lopez, LeVert, Randy Foye and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and a regular second-unit rotation.
"We can't (overstate) Jeremy's effect on the team," Atkinson said. "It definitely doesn't all show up in the box score. There's a confidence, a grasp of what we're running, what he wants to run. Him and Brook are starting to get on the same page. He trusts Caris implicitly. Hopefully, we stumbled onto something throwing Caris in there. He's stepped right in and done a heck of a job. I think it's a big key to us surging a little bit and playing better."
The starters certainly did their part, but the Nets' bench let down after scoring at least 50 points in nine of their previous 10 games. In the third quarter, it was Alex Abrines who came off the Thunder bench to make three 3-pointers during a late 15-5 run that helped Oklahoma City build a 91-83 lead going to the final period.
