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Nets go wild from deep and snap five-game losing streak, 128-119

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By Anthony Puccio
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Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

BROOKLYN, N.Y. --  The Nets played real basketball and it was awesome.

Brooklyn usually averages 5.6 three-pointers per game, but nailed a season-high 18-on-28 attempts, the third highest total in team history, and 29 assists. The ball was moving and the guys in black-and-white finally made the opposing team pay from beyond the arc.

What we're essentially saying is... #HireDavidNurse

With the win, the Nets snapped their five-game losing streak and defeated the Sacramento Kings, 128-119, Friday night at Barclays Center. The 128 points marks a season-high for the Nets who average 96.2 points per game. Joe Johnson led the team, finishing with a double-double of 27 points and 11 assists.

"He is such a fantastic playmaker in general," Brook Lopez said of Joe Johnson. "He draws a lot of attention. He has so many tools in his arsenal."

Bojan Bogdanovic (7-of-9), Johnson (5-of-7) and Donald Sloan (4-of-5) combined for 16 of Brooklyn's 18 three-pointers. For Bogdanovic, the seven three-pointers notched a career-high. He finished with 23 points off the bench.

After dropping 40 points against the Nets in the previous matchup, DeMarcus Cousins went off for 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, but it wasn't enough. His counterpart finished with his 22nd double double of the season with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

The Nets improved to 13-38 on the season and notched their third home win since December 13th.

Here's how it went:

The Nets had about as good of a first half as it's gonna get. They scored a season-high 65 points in the half behind a huge 20-point outburst from Joe Johnson. Joe hit 8 of his 10 shots attempted. As a team, they nailed nine, yes NINE, three-pointers.

The bad part? The Kings scored 61 points and it was only a four-point game.

The good part? The Nets went absolutely wild in the third quarter and scored 38 points to go up by as many as 22. They scored 103 points and nailed a season-high 13 three-pointers and it wasn't even the fourth quarter. Donald Sloan led the charge with 12 points in the quarter.

They looked like an entire new team and the Kings weren't containing them. They brought it within nine with under a minute remaining but it was a little too late. This one was over.

Thaddeus Young had himself a day with 14 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and two steals. The combination of Young and Lopez (26 rebounds) nearly out-rebounded the entire Kings team (31 rebounds).

Sacramento scored 62 points in the paint, but the Nets' hot shooting obscured their advantage.  Darren Collison dropped 25 points off the bench and Rajon Rondo finished with 15 points and 15 assists.

"You know, we have good shooters, we just need to get them rhythm shots," Tony Brown said after the win. "I thought, you know, look at Joe [Johnson], look at Bogie [Bojan Bogdanovic] -- incredible from three. I think that was a big reason why we won the game."

Indeed in the 14 games that Brown has coached the Nets, Johnson is shooting 50 percent from three (30 of 60) and Bogdanovc 44.8 percent (26-of-56).

How bad was the loss for the Kings.  After the game, both Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc Stein reported that George Karl may very well be fired in the next few days!

Side note:

Chris McCullough's was active for the first time, but it looks like he won't make his debut until Monday. Nonetheless, it's good to have the first-round pick in uniform (on his 21st birthday) after suffering an ACL tear during his freshman year at Syracuse.

History made:

Johnson passed Rashard Lewis for 10th all-time in three-pointers made. After the game, Johnson said, "I guess it's pretty cool, but I'm not finished."  No, he is not.

Bogie under Brown:

Bogdanovic is now shooting 44.8 percent (26-58) from downtown in 14 games under Tony Brown.

Next up: Philadelphia, Saturday night at 7:30 pm.

For more on the Sacramento Kings, check them out at Sactown Royalty.

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