Nets 100, Suns 98 (OT)
PHOENIX -- Guard Joe Johnson put up a teardrop 5-footer over the outstretched hands of Phoenix forward Channing Frye and through the hoop as time expired in overtime as the Brooklyn Nets pulled out a wild 100-98 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.
Nets center Brook Lopez had 25 of his 27 points in the second half and overtime, hitting two jumpers 48 seconds apart to give the Nets their first lead of overtime.
The Suns rallied to tie the score at 100 on forward PJ Tucker's alley-oop dunk from guard Eric Bledsoe with 56.2 seconds left. Lopez turned the ball over and the Suns had a chance to win it, but Frye missed a 3-pointer with six seconds left.
Johnson ran down the long rebound, raced down the floor and hit the winning shot over Frye.
Guard Shaun Livingston had 18 points and six assists for the Nets, taking over for starting guard Deron Williams, who left with a badly sprained ankle in the first quarter. Johnson finished with 13 points, but the last two were the biggest.
Guard Goran Dragic led the Suns with 19 points and Tucker added 17 points, with 14 of them coming in the fourth quarter and overtime.
The Suns had a 14-point lead in the second quarter but went more than 11 minutes of the second and third quarters without a field goal as the Nets went on a 30-4 run and turned a 46-34 deficit into a 62-50 lead.
But the Suns used a rush of 3-pointers to get back in the game. Tucker's 3-pointer in the deep corner with 39.1 seconds left in regulation gave the Suns a 92-90 lead. Johnson answered with a 10-foot floater with 29.9 seconds left and all the Suns could muster on their final possession in regulation was an off-balance baseline shot by Dragic that missed and sent the game to overtime.
NOTES: This was a stark of contrast of teams in different stages. The Nets roster has 117 years of NBA experience and the rebuilding Suns have 41 -- and nine of them belong to C Emeka Okafor, who is unlikely to ever play for Phoenix. Nets C Kevin Garnett, who has played just under 48,000 minutes in his career, logged nearly 10,000 more minutes than the entire Phoenix roster (38,403). ... Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said he was worried that Goran Dragic had suffered a concussion in his face-to-face collision with Portland's Mo Williams. This head shot, Dragic's third of the season, left a cut that required 14 stitches to close. "The guys were going to put a football helmet in his locker," Hornacek said. ... Nets coach Jason Kidd played 308 games as a Sun (199-2001) and remains the franchise leaders with 25 double-doubles. The Suns came into the game with a 5-3 record and their three losses came to teams (Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Portland) with a combined record of 19-6. Kidd on the new-look Suns under Hornacek: "They play hard, like to push the pressure, they are unselfish ... it's kind of like the player he was."
