/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45630498/usa-today-8366752.0.jpg)
Last year, Joe Johnson turned the Nets' poor season around with a game winning shot against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Judging from his game winning shot Monday, Jarrett Jack may have done the same this season for Brooklyn, a team that's won just four games against opponents above .500.
They did it for the second straight game with a 109-93 victory over the Toronto Raptors. It's their first win streak since winning a third straight game back on January 2nd.
The game was much closer than the score indicated. It was a four-point Brooklyn lead heading into the fourth quarter, but a hefty 25-10 advantage through nine minutes of the quarter saw Brooklyn extend their lead to 17. Bojan Bogdanovic delivered the final blow with two consecutive three pointers to put them up 19 with five minutes remaining.
DeMar DeRozan wasn't too thrilled about it. After Bogey nailed the dagger, DeRozan delivered a bush-league foul that resulted in a flagrant foul and ejection for the Raptors star small forward. He wasn't shy about his intentional flagrant.
DeRozan flagrant: "They got to rumbling like they were the No. 1 team in the East. I just wasn’t going to let them get away with anything."
— Mike Mazzeo (@MazzESPN) February 5, 2015
The Nets outscored Toronto 60-42 in the second half; 33-21 in the fourth quarter on 47% from three. Yeah, you read that correct. The Nets being the fourth worst three-point shooting team, finished the night 9-of-19 from beyond the arc. In the last two games, the Nets have made 21-of-46 three-pointers compared to the previous four games where they shot 22-of-79.
To go along with that, they dished out 24 assists and turned the ball over just nine times.
It's also their fourth straight game scoring 100+ points.
Jarrett Jack was the star for Brooklyn with 24 points, six assists, four rebounds and one steal. His fellow backcourt partner Alan Anderson finished with 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting. The two combined for 46 points on 16-of-21 shooting. Shall we say, hello Brooklyn's backcourt? Maybe we should. They're the first Nets' guards to score 20+ points in the same game this season.
Toronto's backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan finished with a combined 26 points on 10-of-26 shooting, both finishing the night with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting and seven turnovers.
Terrence Ross scored 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 5-of-11 from three.
The Nets' 20-of-23 free throw shooting also gave them the big boost they needed. They rank 20th in the league in free throws attempted, but certainly put the charity stripe to use tonight.
Brook Lopez played 28 minutes but struggled. The big fella ended his night with eight points and four rebounds on 4-of-14 shooting. It simply wasn't his night.
Bojan Bogdanovic & Deron Williams both came off the bench and finished the night with 11 points apiece. Bojan was 3-of-5, while D-Will was 4-of-12 with six assists in 33 minutes of action. Odd enough, with the return of Williams, you'd thing that Jack's minutes would decrease. Wrong. Jack played 36 minutes tonight and 39 minutes in Williams' first game back this past Monday. It's the coach's call.
The Nets will face off against the lottery-seeking Knicks this Friday night at the Barclays Center. The team looks to win their third straight game while the Knicks, well, look to avoid disaster in front of their crosstown rivals.
Quarter by quarter summary:
First quarter ... The Nets started the game on a good note, opening up with a 17-11 start while somewhat holding control of this game. Then, Deron Williams and Brook Lopez checked in and everything changed. The Raptors immediately went on a 13-0 run and 17-5 to finish the quarter. Terrence Ross came off the bench and scored eight points in six minutes, providing the offensive spark Toronto needed. They led Brooklyn, 28-22.
Second quarter ... The Nets outscored the Raptors 27-21 in the second quarter without any true offensive force to show for it all. The team shot 44% in the half and 30% from three, but zero players were in double figures. They did however receive a nine-point first half from Alan Anderson and eight points from Jarrett Jack. Brook Lopez has played well of late but struggled in the early stages of this one. He was 3-of-10 to start with six points and four rebounds.
Toronto on the other hand shot 53% from the field and 39% from three with Kyle Lowry scoring a game-high 13 points and six assists on 5-of-6 shooting. DeMar DeRozan was close to ineffective with four points in 16 minutes
Score at the half: Raptors 51, Nets 49.
Third quarter ... Jarrett Jack was a galvanizing force for Brooklyn. Behind a nice little jolt from him, the Nets went on a 16-4 run and found a 10 point lead; their largest of the night. It didn't last very long, though. The Raptors answered with a 10-3 run of their own, cutting the deficit down to three with 48 seconds remaining. Still, Brooklyn outscored Toronto 27-21 in the quarter and led 76-72 heading into the fourth quarter.
Jarrett Jack and Alan Anderson scored a combined 33 points on 13-of-18 shooting. Anderson was the game's leading scorer with 17 points.
Fourth quarter ... It was a nine-point Brooklyn lead with 8:18 left in the game when the team blasted off. They went on a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 16 with five minutes remaining. It appeared as if the Raptors were gonna make a run, but Bojan Bogdanovic nailed two threes to put this game out of reach.
Final Score: Nets 109, Raptors 93.
Hey don't forget, with the Nets win, you can get 50% off with the promo code NETSWIN at papajohns.com!
For more on the Toronto Raptors, check them out at Raptors HQ.
- Game Thread: Brooklyn Nets at Toronto Raptors, 7:30 PM - NetsDaily
- Brooklyn Nets vs. Toronto Raptors - Box Score - ESPN
- 2nd Half Game Thread: Nets at Raptors - NetsDaily
- Brooklyn Nets vs. Toronto Raptors - Recap - February 04, 2015 - AP
- Nets vs. Raptors (Video) - NBA.com
- Jefferson Rocks the Rim (Video) - NBA.com
- Valanciunas Jam (Video) - NBA.com
- Big Time Move (Video) - NBA.com
- Lowry Dime (Video) - NBA.com
- Lowry Spin-o-rama (Video) - NBA.com
- Nets Post Game Plus: Nets beat Raptors (Video) - Chris Shearn - YES Network
- Anderson on big win over Raptors in Toronto (Video) - Sarah Kustok - YES Network
- Jack on Nets hitting their stride in team win (Video) - YES Network
- Bogdanovic on the Nets' key road win (Video) - YES Network
- Hollins on Wednesday's victory over Toronto (Video) - YES Network
- Hollins on Nets' ability to share the ball (Video) - YES Network
- Lopez on team chemistry leading to big win (Video) - YES Network
- Johnson on key road win in Toronto - Video - YES Network
- Nets Magazine: Nets' Rising Stars participants (Video) - YES Network
- Nets Beat Raptors (Video) - ESPN
- Scott's Posterizing Dunk Leads NBA Top Plays (Video ) - ESPN
- Cory Jefferson POSTERIZES Patrick Patterson! (Video) - The Brooklyn Game
- Mason Plumlee, you fancy (GIF) - The Brooklyn Game
- DeMar DeRozan ejected for flagrant foul on Bojan Bogdanovic (Video) - Sports Illustrated
- Big backcourt night propels Nets to second straight victory - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
- Hollins on practicing after scout’s heart attack: ‘Why wouldn’t we?’ - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
- Nets stun Atlantic Division-leading Raptors, 109-93 - Mitch Abramson - New York Daily News
- Nets guards light it up in road win over Raptors - Anthony Reiber - Newsday
- Nets topple division-leading Raptors, 109-93 - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- Nets notes: Byron Scott disses Jason Kidd - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- Dwane Casey - Toronto Raptors have to get 'fight' back - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
- Nets Dominate Raptors In Road Victory (Grades) - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
- The Nets' Korver-esque Second-Half 3-Point Chart - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
-
Hollins has Nets back on track - New York Brooklyn Nets - Gregory Hrinya - Examiner
- Brooklyn Nets Turning Corner, But Danger Lurks Around The Bend - Steve Lichtenstein - WFAN
- Nets Find Themselves in a 109-93 Road Win Over the Raptors - Lenn Robbins - Brooklyn Nets
- Raptors no match for Nets at home - Mike Ganter - Toronto Sun
- Raptors’ defence porous in loss to Nets - Doug Smith - Toronto Star
- Another disappointing loss for Raptors - Richard Griffin - Toronto Star
- Raptors thrashed by Nets in division clash - Rachel Brady - National Post