BUZZ THRILL: Joe Johnson celebrates his winning shot in the Nets’ 107-105 double-overtime triumph over the Pistons last night at Barclays Center. (
)
This was the exact scenario the Nets envisioned when they traded for Joe Johnson over the summer — the ball in his hands with the clock winding down and the game tied.
Johnson didn’t disappoint last night.
The shooting guard drained a jumper over Tayshaun Prince as time expired in the second overtime to give the Nets a dramatic 107-105 victory over the Pistons at Barclays Center, the perfect ending to a wild game that more than once looked destined to end in an incredibly disappointing loss.
Instead, it sent the Nets on the road to Chicago, where they play again tonight, with an improbable two-game winning streak.
“When it left my hand, I knew it was going in,” said Johnson, who finshed with 28 points, four rebounds and five assists in 51:58. “I’m glad we could get out of here with a win.”
Johnson appeared to have given the Nets the lead for good when his runner in the lane put the Nets up 104-103 with 26.2 seconds left in the second overtime and then hit one of two foul shots to give them a 105-103 lead with 10.5 seconds remaining.
“It’s no secret that we were going to give him the ball and ride his back,” coach Avery Johnson said. “That’s what we’re looking for from Joe.”
But after Detroit’s Brandon Knight’s wide-open jumper missed long on the ensuing possession, Kris Humphries got tied up with Greg Monroe and tipped the ball with his left hand directly to Kyle Singler for the game-tying layup with 5.8 seconds to go.
Instead, it just gave Johnson an opportunity to hit his first buzzer-beater as a Net, and the first one inside their new home in Brooklyn.
“When I missed that free throw, and they came down and got that layup,” Johnson said, “it couldn’t have been drawn up better for me than that.”
After the Nets called time out, Johnson inbounded the ball to Deron Williams, who immediately handed it back off to the six-time All-Star shooting guard. Johnson, with Prince guarding him, then dribbled over to the right side before suddenly pulling off a behind-the-back crossover that left Prince off balance.
That gave Johnson just enough time and space to rise up and drain the game-winner from just inside the 3-point line to send the Nets to their second straight win.
“That’s Joe,” said Andray Blatche. “That’s been his rep. That’s why he’s been a six-time All-Star.”
The shot allowed the Nets to escape from a game that they had looked destined to lose. After leading by as many as 17 in the first half, they trailed 90-84 with 1:32 remaining after Monroe hit one of two free throws.
But the Nets somehow managed to claw their way back into the game, getting a layup from Williams, followed by a pair of free throws from Gerald Wallace and then, after Reggie Evans blocked a Monroe layup attempt with 30.9 seconds left, Wallace leapt over several players to tip in a Johnson miss to tie the game at 90.
The game went to overtime when Knight, who led Detroit with 22 points, missed a 16-footer and Williams missed a fallaway 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“I just saw a free lane to the basket,” said Wallace, who finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds. “I was trying to be there just in case he missed.”
The Nets also benefitted from a dubious goaltending call midway through the fourth quarter. The Pistons had two points taken off the board because the shot-clock operator failed to reset the clock on an Andre Drummond missed shot that hit the rim, nullifying an ensuing basket after the shot was released after the clock expired.
The Nets again managed to erase a late deficit in overtime when, after Rodney Stuckey drove to the hoop for a layup with 41.4 seconds left to give the Pistons a lead, the Nets tied it up with 18.9 seconds left on a Johnson floater in the lane. That again left the Pistons with a chance to win the game, but Stuckey’s 15-footer over Wallace was off, sending the game to double-overtime.
From there, Johnson, who scored half of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and two overtime periods, carried the Nets home.
“I don’t think anybody wanted to play a third overtime,” Williams said with a smile. “I guess he knew we needed to get to Chicago.”