NBA

Nets lose to Timberwolves; Morrow scores career-high 42

Ricky Rubio is known for his brilliant passing skills, but it was his defense that beat the Nets last night.

Rubio came up with a pair of steals off of Deron Williams turnovers in the last two minutes — including one in the dying seconds of the game — to help the Timberwolves escape with a 108-105 win over the Nets at Prudential Center.

“It happens,” said Williams, who finished with 12 points, 14 assists and five rebounds, but also had six turnovers. “You can’t be great in every pressure situation. There’s times you turn the ball over, there’s times you miss shots … it happens.”

Unfortunately for the Nets, it happened on a night when Anthony Morrow was as hot as the sun. One of the league’s best shooters, Morrow went 13-for-20 from the field, including a career-high eight 3-pointers in 11 shots from behind the arc, and finished with a career-high 42 points.

“He was just on fire,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “Our guys were finding him, setting great screens for him, and he was letting it fly. Every play that we drew up for him, he executed it perfectly.

“I think he was perfect and special tonight, and it was a special performance.”

But it wasn’t enough to give the Nets their first back-to-back wins at home this season. After beating the Pistons Wednesday at home with only eight players, the Nets were glad to welcome back Morrow, who had missed the Detroit game with a sprained left ankle, and Johan Petro, who was out with a stomach virus.

After Morrow landed awkwardly on the ankle on the game’s first possession while trying to get a rebound from Kevin Love, it looked as if his night might end early. Instead, Morrow, who scored 15 points in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s win over the Pacers, kept hitting shot after shot, and almost single-handedly kept the Nets in the game.

“I was just praying it wouldn’t stop me,” Morrow said of his ankle. “I knew, after missing the last game, that I wasn’t going to miss this game. I knew they needed that same effort we had against Indiana, and we brought it even more [last night].”

At two different points , it looked as if the Nets wouldn’t have a chance to make a game of it at the end, falling behind by 14 in the second quarter and 11 in the third. But both times, they were able to get back into it.

Morrow scored 15 points as part of a 21-5 run in the second to turn that 14-point deficit into a two-point lead, while the Nets’ bench played well to end the third and at the start of the fourth, capping the comeback with — what else — a Morrow 3-pointer with 9:36 to go, giving the Nets an 86-84 lead.

“We were right there,” Williams said, “except for those last couple plays.”

But, in the end, the Nets came up one play short.