OKLAHOMA CITY — After playing alongside Joe Johnson for the last year and a half, Deron Williams knew exactly who should get the last shot for the Nets against the Thunder on Thursday night.
“Man, it’s crazy,” Williams said with a smile afterward. “It didn’t matter what he did for the first 47 minutes.
“When the game is on the line, you know he wants the ball.”
Johnson once again showed why Williams and the rest of the Nets have so much faith in him in late-and-close situations, as Johnson’s step-back, fadeaway jumper over the outstretched arm of Thunder forward Serge Ibaka nestled into the bottom of the net as time expired to give the Nets a stunning 95-93 win over the Thunder in front of a sellout crowd of 18,203 inside Chesapeake Energy Arena.
“It looked good, as soon as it left [my hand],” Johnson said. “It looked good, felt good, and it went down.”
Johnson had struggled throughout the game, going just 3-for-10 over his first 30 minutes and 15 seconds on the floor — including 1-for-6 from 3-point range.
But that didn’t stop coach Jason Kidd from drawing up a play for Johnson, or for any Net to think it wasn’t going to end in a made basket for the Nets (11-21).
“We believe,” said Paul Pierce, who had 18 points, four rebounds and three assists. “It don’t matter. I could be on fire, D-Will is on fire. … This is our guy down the stretch.
“The resume is there. He’s our guy. If he’s 1-for-15 or 1-for-20, we want him with the ball with 5 seconds on the clock.”
After dribbling down the clock to ensure the Thunder (25-7) wouldn’t get a final shot of their own, Johnson let the ball go well before the buzzer sounded, only to watch it settle cleanly into the bottom of the net, sending his teammates into a delirious celebration on the opposite side of the court.
“I knew Ibaka was long,” Johnson said, “and I had to put some arc on it.”
Johnson’s success in clutch situations over the past two years is staggering. He’s now 6-for-6 in the final 10 seconds of regulation or overtime when his team is behind or trailing by three points or less, and is 12-for-14 in the final 30 seconds of regulation and overtime in similar situations.
This also was his second game-winner of this season, after taking the ball the length of the court and scoring at the buzzer to give the Nets an overtime win in Phoenix on Nov. 15.
“With the record he has in last second shots,” said Williams, who finished with a season-high 29 points, “you have to go to him.”
Johnson’s heroics capped off a stunning Nets comeback down the stretch. A Williams 3-pointer with 2:01 remaining and a turnaround jumper 30 seconds later gave the Nets a 93-89 lead with 1:31 to go and capped a 14-0 run.
The Thunder then responded with a Reggie Jackson basket on the ensuing possession to cut the Nets’ lead to two, then tied the game with 5.8 seconds left when Kevin Durant — who finished with 24 points in 34 minutes despite spending most of the game in foul trouble — hit a cutting Ibaka for a layup over Williams.
But 5.8 seconds was more than enough time for Johnson to seal the game.
“It felt great,” Joihnson said. “It felt great. We haven’t even been in the game against some of the top teams in the league, so to be in the game tonight was a plus for us.
“I knew if we could stay close in the last five minutes we had a great chance to win.”
After the rest of the Nets kept it close until the end, their closer came through for them once again.