Two nights after blowing a fourth-quarter lead at home, the Brooklyn Nets found their poise when it mattered, beating the visiting Charlotte Hornets 114-104 on Wednesday for a measure of payback against the team that beat them in the season opener.
Michael Porter Jr. led Brooklyn with 26 points and 10 rebounds, finishing a plus-17 for the game. Julius Randle added 22 points, and rookie Mikel Brown Jr. came off the bench for a career-high 18 points and four assists. Day’Ron Sharpe recorded a career-high eight assists, and Danny Wolf chipped in 12 points while also finishing plus-17.
The win follows a stretch in which the Nets (2-6) have shown flashes of progress, including a victory in Indiana and a fourth-quarter lead on the road against the defending NBA champion Knicks. But Monday’s home loss to Charlotte exposed a recurring problem: Brooklyn surrendered a 25-5 run to open the fourth quarter and shot just 3 of 16 from the field with seven turnovers down the stretch.
This time was different. The Nets outscored Charlotte 34-24 in the fourth quarter, shooting 51.2 percent and 8 of 22 from 3-point range in the period. For the game, Brooklyn shot 50.6 percent overall and went 14 for 37 from deep.
“Yeah, the seven quarters that we saw — from Indiana, four plus the three at the Garden — I think that that was who we want to be,” Nets coach Jordi Fernández said. “And obviously the not being organized in the fourth offensively and the turnovers and the lack of execution, we just worked on it. So it’s not something that it’s not fixable. So that’s the beauty of this league, right? Watch it, learn, work at it, and now move on to the next one. So I think we’re getting better. I think that’s the proper steps you have to take.”
Brooklyn’s defense set the tone early, forcing six straight misses and a turnover to open the game. A Randle 3-pointer put the Nets up 40-37 with 5:42 left in the first half, but Charlotte answered with a 20-7 run, taking a 10-point lead on a Grayson Allen 3-pointer with a minute to go before halftime. The Hornets still led 59-50 a minute into the third quarter.
The Nets responded with an 11-0 run, capped by a Wolf 3-pointer off a Randle assist that gave Brooklyn a 61-59 edge. Charlotte regained the lead, going up 78-72 with two minutes left in the third, but the Nets answered again, outscoring the Hornets 17-5 over a span that crossed into the fourth quarter. A Randle-to-Brown kick-out 3-pointer put Brooklyn ahead 89-83, and this time the Nets did not let the lead slip away.
“Yeah, fourth quarter is winning time, for sure. A lot of these guys haven’t been in that position a lot,” Porter said. “But as a group, especially the veteran guys, we’ve got to emphasize that the fourth quarter is a completely different game than three quarters prior and you have to really [focus].”
