Brook Lopez is finally rounding back into form.
The Nets got a third straight double-double from Lopez — a season-high 35 points to go along with 11 rebounds — to win their second straight game under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, 103-100, over the Cavaliers last night in front of 17,732 at Barclays Center.
After scoring 21 points in the first half on 9-for-11 shooting, Lopez helped carry the Nets (16-14) home with an aggressive fourth quarter. Playing nearly the entire period, Lopez scored 11 points, helping the Nets hold off the Cavaliers, who rallied within a point in the fourth after trailing by as many as 15.
Despite missing Anderson Varejao, the NBA’s leading rebounder, and getting a subpar performance from Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers (7-25) were able to stay in the game because of a stellar shooting night from C.J. Miles, who finished with 33 points on 11-for-15 shooting, including a career-best eight 3-pointers.
But Lopez, who at one point scored eight straight Nets points, repeatedly drove to the basket and got easy baskets, then picked up a key rebound after an Irving miss with 13.9 seconds left that would have pulled the Cavs within one.
Cleveland got one final shot at tying the game after Joe Johnson hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to 103-100 with 5.4 seconds left, but Irving’s 3-pointer from the top of the key rattled out and the Nets came away with the win.
The beginning of the Nets’ troubles this season — as well as the end of Avery Johnson’s tenure as the team’s head coach — can be traced to Nov. 28 in Boston, where Lopez sprained his right foot in a win over the Celtics. The victory capped a six-day stretch in which the Nets beat Boston for a second time this season after picking up victories over the Clippers and Knicks.
As soon as Lopez, who the dismissed coach admitted during his press conference Thursday had been carrying the Nets during that stretch, went down, the team never regained its earlier form. The Nets lost five of the seven games Lopez sat out, followed by losing five of the seven he played in after getting back in the lineup, a poor stretch that led to Johnson’s firing earlier this week.
Before the injury, Lopez was playing arguably the best ball of his entire career. The 7-footer was aggressively attacking the rim to average 18.5 points and shoot 53.4 percent from the field, and was proving to be at least a sound rim protector on defense, averaging 2.5 blocks per game.
But in his first several games after returning from the sprained foot, Lopez simply didn’t look the same. He looked much more tentative on offense, settling for more jumpers.
Slowly but surely, though, the Lopez that was on display earlier this season began to return this week — highlighted by last night’s monster line.
After failing to hit 50 percent of his shots in any of his first six games back, Lopez was out on the court over two hours before tip-off of Wednesday’s game in Milwaukee getting up extra shots. Lopez went out and put together his best game since returning to the lineup, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
He then followed that up with a 26- point, 11-rebound, three-block performance against the Bobcats on Friday night. He also impressed Carlesimo with his passing skills in that game, despite only having a pair of assists.