Nets 97, Pacers 86
NEW YORK -- Brook Lopez rebounded from an awful start to score nine points in a crucial 17-0, fourth-quarter run, leading the Brooklyn Nets to a come-from-behind, 97-86 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night at the Barclays Center.
Brooklyn (22-15) earned its sixth consecutive win, improving to 8-1 under interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo. The Pacers (23-15) saw their four-game winning streak end. Indiana had won 18 of 20 this season when taking a lead into the fourth quarter.
The Pacers led 75-69 going into the final period, and they pushed the lead to eight on a power move from Ian Mahinmi with 10:56 remaining.
The Nets scored the game's next 17 points run over a span of 4:14, with Lopez leading the way. He entered the fourth quarter shooting 1-for-8 from the floor, but he hit two big corner jumpers and had two big dunks in the late surge. Lopez finished the night with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Brooklyn point guard Deron Williams, who suffered a thigh contusion in Friday's win over the Phoenix Suns, scored 12 of his team-high 22 points in the first quarter. Williams also had nine assists. Joe Johnson added 20 points for the winners.
Indiana's David West scored a game-high 27 points. Paul George added 15 points and 12 rebounds, and former Net Gerald Green had 15 off the bench for the Pacers.
The Nets outscored the Pacers 28-11 in the fourth quarter. The 11 points represented the Pacers' lowest scoring total for one quarter this season. Indiana made just two of 18 shots to start the period.
The Nets led by as many as nine in the first quarter. Williams capped a 16-1 run with a long 3-pointer from the right corner, giving Brooklyn a 27-18 lead with 47 seconds left in the period.
The Pacers dominated the action in the second quarter, outscoring the Nets 28-19 in the period to take a 49-46 halftime lead. West had 15 points at the half, and George, who was questionable before the game due to the flu, had 10.
Playing their sixth game in nine days, the Pacers shot 50 percent from the floor before intermission, while the Nets managed to connect on 42 percent in the first half. Indiana wound up at 42.2 percent for the game, and Brooklyn finished at 40.7 percent.
Williams lost his shooting touch in the second quarter, making just one basket.
In the fourth quarter, the Nets cut their deficit to 77-75 with 9:30 to go on two consecutive 16-foot jumpers from Brook Lopez from almost exactly the same spot in the left corner.
Johnson's 25-footer with 8:50 left put the Nets up 78-77, their first lead since the second quarter.
The Nets then hit five straight free throws, two from Lopez and three from Williams, to take an 83-77 lead. Lopez canned a 20-footer to extend the lead to 85-77 with 7:28 left. Pacers coach Frank Vogel drew a technical foul in frustration, and Williams made the free throw, his 32nd consecutive made foul shot.
NOTES: With their forward line decimated by injuries, the Nets signed a familiar face to a 10-day contract: Damion James. James, who was acquired by the Nets on draft night in 2010 from the Atlanta Hawks after the Hawks took the University of Texas product in the first round (24th overall), had two injury-filled seasons with the Nets. James played in just 25 games in his first year and seven in his second year. He's had a series of foot injuries and surgeries. He averaged 4.5 points and 3.7 rebounds during his stint with the Nets. The team did not pick up the third-year option on James' contract after last season, and he became a free agent. The 6-foot-7 James was playing for Bakersfield in the NBDL, averaging 15.5 points and 7.3 rebounds over 17 games. He was in uniform Sunday night for the Nets. ... Starting power forward Gerald Wallace missed the game with bruised ribs after suffering a hard fall in a collision with P.J. Tucker of the Phoenix Suns Sunday night. ... The Pacers are still without All-Star Danny Granger, who is battling a knee injury. ... Brooklyn native Lance Stephenson started the game for the Pacers, but he suffered a foot injury in the early going and sat out the remainder of the game. He finished scoreless in six minutes of action.
