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Joe Johnson plays hero ball, leads the Nets to a 113-111 overtime victory over the Bucks

By Tom Lorenzo

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Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

BROOKLYN, New York - First, there was "Big Shot Joe" at the end of regulation as Joe Johnson buried a three with a few second left to carry the Nets into overtime. Then, a few minutes later, at the end of overtime, there was "BIGGER Shot Joe" hitting a leaner so cleanly that he left no time on the clock for the Bucks to recover.

It was a night of genuine excitement as Johnson continued his record for big shots. In fact, John Schuhmann tweeted that Johnson is now 9-of-10 this season with the game on the line and less than a minute to go.

The Nets won their tenth straight overtime game stretching back to New Jersey and ended a drought of 13 straight losses to the Bucks. The win also put the Nets 10 games over .500, the first they reached that level since January 23, and only the second time since 2006.

With the trade deadline less than 48 hours away and the speculation running wild, the Nets suited up against a Bucks team that had beaten them in 13 straight games -- including twice this season.

Brandon Jennings played like there was no way he was going to let his team's win-streak end, scoring a game-high 34 points, but it was Joe Johnson who was the real hero here, hitting a game-tying three to go to overtime and a game-winner in overtime. Joe Johnson... HERO.

Both teams were at relative full strength, with the Nets getting Deron Williams (ankles) back and the Bucks getting their defensive stud Larry Sanders back into the starting lineup. The Nets made it a point to go after Sanders early, as he picked up his second foul about seven minutes into the game. Overall they were aggressive in the paint and off the glass early, out-rebounding the Bucks 13-8 (with five offensive boards) and despite shooting 43.5 percent from the floor, they carried a 31-24 lead into the second quarter.

The bench came out strong in the first half, scoring 22 points, and the Nets offense as a whole was crisp. They shot 53 percent from the floor and pulled down 10 offensive rebounds.

Behind Brook Lopez's 13 first-half points, and 12 from D-Will, the Nets carried a 10-point lead into the half, 61-51.

Brooklyn fell into another one of those third quarter lulls, allowing the Bucks to pull with four points, as P.J. Carlesimo called a timeout to reel the team back in. The Nets' biggest struggle was in turning over the ball. They actually lost the lead at one point, as Monta Ellis drilled a three-pointer late in the third to put the Bucks up 76-75.

After Joe Johnson finished a 3-point play, Ersan Ilyasova went on a 5-0 run of his own, followed by a C.J. Watson bucket, and we entered the fourth quarter with the Nets trailing the Bucks 81-80.

In the fourth, the game remained tight. Brandon Jennings continued to take over, while Carlesimo opted to play Watson and Andray Blatche -- as opposed to Reggie Evans and Lopez -- down the stretch. It was an interesting rotation, with the Nets getting going small.

With Brooklyn down by one point in the final minute, Watson was called for an offensive foul, giving the Bucks the ball. Gerald Wallace then came up with a big steal on Jennings to give Brooklyn the ball with 28 seconds to go, down by one.

After a timeout was called, Brooklyn iso'd Williams, who drove to the basket and then kicked to Blatche under the basket. Blatche was fouled, hitting both of the free throws and giving the Nets a 102-101 lead.

On the other end, the Bucks put the ball in Jennings' hands, as he drove the hoop, missing a layup, but Sanders was there for the put-back.

Last possession for the Nets, they went to Williams, who was called for an offensive foul after Ellis played up an elbow to the face. This gave the Bucks a 3-point lead after Jennings hit two threes.

Then, heroics came calling and Joe Johnson answered the call. With 1.8 seconds to go, down three, Johnson stepped back and drained a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime, tied 105-105.

Overtime, however, wasn't kind to the Nets early on. They fell cold scoring, just three points in the first four minutes of the extra period. The Bucks, however, couldn't get much going on their end either, and after a baseline three by Keith Bogans, the teams were once again tied with less than a minute to play.

After a missed layup by Jennings, the Nets had the ball with 10.5 seconds to play, tied game.

The ball went back to Johnson, with a chance to win the game. And win he did, hitting a jumper to give the Nets a 113-111 victory.

Johnson finished with 24 points, and two of the biggest shots of the season.

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