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Brooklyn Nets wipe out Portland Trail Blazers, 111-93

Reggie Evans stole the show as the Nets cement their first winning season since the days of their "Big Three".

USA TODAY Sports

Nenad Krstic played 80 games, Lamond Murray, Scott Padgett and Bostjan Nachbar came off the bench, Orlando's current head coach was the backup PG, and Uncle Cliffy got suspended in the playoffs against Shaq and the eventual champion Miami Heat.

The year was 2006, and it was the last time the Nets finished a season with more wins than losses.

Until tonight.

The Nets salted away their 42nd win of the season and their franchise-record 20th road victory behind an incredible, amazing, unbelievable performance by PF Reggie Evans. Evans posted his career highs with 22 points and 26 rebounds (!) as he continually shredded the helpless Blazers frontcourt.

Indeed, Brooklyn's front line of Evans, Brook Lopez and Andray Blatche were no match for Portland's J.J. Hickson and LaMarcus Aldridge. They combined for 52 points on 26-41 shooting and helped the visitors to a healthy 65-49 advantage on the boards. The Nets had an insane 74 points in the paint. PG Deron Williams struggled from the floor, but dished out 10 assists, played some inspired defense on shoo-in Rookie-of-the-Year Damian Lillard, and generally kept things running as well as possible.

Through three quarters, the Nets never took their foot off the gas - amassing a seemingly insurmountable 95-69 lead. However, Portland's well-rested bench - the least effective in the NBA - put up a fight against the Nets backups and guys like Meyers Leonard and Will Barton drew the Blazers as close as 14. That caused coach P.J. Carlesimo to re-insert Evans and the rest of the starters, who closed things out.

Aldridge did some damage on offense, putting up 24 points on 11-14 shooting, but that was the lone bright spot for the home side, who were never really in the game from the outset.

The Nets also went to 4-1 on what has become a fantastic road trip. The three games remaining are against the smoking hot Nuggets, the tough-at-home Jazz and the free-falling Cavaliers. If the Nets can take at least one of the next two, it would be an historic trip that could give the team confidence going into the playoffs.