What was most surprising: The Nets dominated one of the best teams in basketball for at least three quarters?
Shots were constantly falling to Brooklyn, which looked like a much fresher team?
Does Cam Thomas actually hit jump shots?
Or was it the final score reflecting that the Nets finally won the game?
Jacque Vaughn's team snapped a tough 124-115 victory against the mighty Thunder at Barclays Center in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,147 on Friday night, ending a five-game drought and ending a 13-game losing streak. He won his third victory.
The Nets (16-20), who had been in a deep slump and slumber, woke up and put the Thunder (23-11), who entered the game as the second seed in the Western Conference, to sleep in the first half.
The Nets jumped out to a virtually inconceivable lead of 75-47 after two quarters, their largest lead and their most points in a half all season.
The Nets would lead by as many as 32 points, but the Thunder threatened late and nearly escaped with what would have been the Nets' worst loss of the season.
A 33-15 run in the fourth quarter brought the Thunder to within seven points and put a comfortable victory in jeopardy.
However, the Nets were tight throughout the fourth quarter, making just 5 of 22 shots, but they hit enough foul shots and made enough plays, especially on a late putback from Dennis Smith Jr. (13 points). , 12 rebounds, and 7 assists). This brought the lead back to double digits and fended off the attack.
The Nets hung on and made sure not to let a magical first half go to waste.
Perhaps the most iconic moment came in the second quarter when Royce O'Neal hoisted a deep air ball.
But in the first two quarters, even a rare mistake benefited the Nets.
The ball ignored the rim, but found Smith's waiting hands, resulting in a catch and dunk.
It was as if two-and-a-half weeks of frustration was released on every possession.
The Nets hadn't won against a team other than the Pistons since Dec. 13 against Phoenix.
Over the past 12 games, they have transformed into the worst shooting team in the NBA from both the field and 3-point shooting, and have been trampled defensively, allowing opponents to bomb (opponents' shooting percentage is among the best in the league). 43.4%). From deep down.
The person who best embodies that struggle is Thomas, who has gone 0-for-20 (no errors) over the past two games.
Starting with a 25-7 spurt to end the first quarter, everything that went wrong started going right and the game was all but decided (at least until the fourth quarter).
Thomas clearly remained confident and continued to target his shots, scoring 16 of his 18 points in the first half.
Nick Claxton had 23 points and 13 rebounds on just 11 shots left.
He also showed great court awareness with three assists early on, including finding Thomas alone at the 3-point arc for a trey.
With the exception of Lonnie Walker IV (who returned after missing more than a month with a hamstring strain), every Net player who played had scored by halftime.
Eight Nets scored at least nine points, including Spencer Dinwiddie's much-needed 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
“They can shoot,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault insisted before the game, saying the Nets hit 26 percent from three in their previous matchup, which the Thunder easily won against Oklahoma City on Sunday. I ignored that.
Oklahoma City suddenly couldn't do it, making just two of its first 15 3-point attempts.
After a roaring fourth and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 32 points, the Thunder made 9 of 30 from deep.
