The Nets finally won a game with some clutch late defense.
Granted, they beat a terrible team trying to tank, but let’s not nitpick. The Nets need all the victories they can get, and they earned a 114-106 one over the Mavericks with some yeoman’s work down the stretch in front of 13,877 at Barclays Center.
“I just told them, ‘We’re not going to lose this game.’ ” DeMarre Carroll said. “I refused to let us lose this game. I felt like this is a team we’re better than. We’ve been playing close games all throughout the year, and this was a great teaching experience to be able to pull this game out at the end. We’ve got to keep playing like that and keep playing aggressive on the defensive end.”
Carroll — buoyed by sliding back to small forward — roughed the Mavericks up with 19 points and a 12 rebounds. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson continued his strong play since reentering the lineup at power forward with a team-high 23 points, while D’Angelo Russell added 22 and six assists. But it was late defense that won this.
Well, that and the Mavericks’ threadbare roster. But that’s another story.
After having coughed up 34 fourth-quarter points in Friday’s loss at Philadelphia, the Nets (22-48) were better on the second night of this back-to-back. They allowed just half as many against Dallas, outscoring the Mavericks 26-17 in a final period that saw them allow just 7-of-20 shooting and force six turnovers.
“Man, we thought about everything — last night, not going in the locker room and talking about what we could’ve done and just coming out and competing,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “Our leaders, including myself, we were like, ‘Listen, we’ve got to start right now. Let’s get it. Let’s lock in and compete.’ That’s what we did.”
It was hard work, against a 22-48 Mavericks team that owner Mark Cuban admits is brazenly tanking. Dallas started a G-League-looking lineup around 39-year-old Dirk Nowitzki and rookie Dennis Smith Jr., who left in the third quarter with a team-high 21 points and an apparent ankle injury.
And it was still tooth and nail, the Nets down 80-70 after Smith’s pull-up with 5:36 in the third.
But the Nets kept chipping away, and trailing 92-88 early in the fourth quarter they ran off seven straight points to take a 95-92 edge. They held the Mavericks to 0-for-4 shooting and three turnovers in that run, with Caris LeVert’s free throw capping it.
Spencer Dinwiddie drove baseline to find Russell for a corner 3 and 100-94 cushion with 7:07 left. Clinging to a precarious 104-99 edge, the Nets got an and-one from Hollis-Jefferson and a pull-up jumper from Russell to pad the lead to 10 with 3:39 left in regulation. They held Dallas at arm’s length from there.
“Just kept playing, kept fighting. Didn’t get down on anything, missed shots, turnovers, calls, whatever it may be, we just kept playing,” Russell said. “We know we gotta do it. … [After] struggling when it comes down the stretch, just trying to get better at those situations.”
Allen Crabbe (illness) and Dante Cunningham (concussion) sat out.