Cavaliers 97 - 108 Nets
Final
  for this game

Nets down Cavs for 12th straight home win

Mar 29, 2014 - 2:59 AM Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Paul Pierce scored 17 of his 22 points in the first quarter to lead the Brooklyn Nets to their 12th consecutive home win with a 108-97 decision over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.

Joe Johnson scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Alan Anderson and Deron Williams added 13 points apiece for Brooklyn, which snapped a two-game slide and moved within one game of the club record for consecutive home wins, set on two occasions in the 2002 season when the franchise was located in New Jersey and played at Prudential Center.

"We're just trying to take care of business." said Nets coach Jason Kidd of the success on their home floor. "There is a lot of things that have to do with the (home) crowd. Paul (Pierce) set the tone early and that is what a veteran guy does."

Luol Deng and Dion Waiters each netted 20 points to lead the Cavs, who had their winning streak stopped at three games.

Spencer Hawes contributed 16 points and Tristan Thompson added 14 in the setback.

Cleveland fell 3 1/2 games behind idle Atlanta for eighth place in the Eastern Conference with eight games remaining.

"Coming out we didn't do a good enough job," said Hawes. "We need to take it one game at a time. I know that's cliche but it's how we have to look at it."

Pierce knocked down two 3-pointers after a Williams trey to give the Nets an early 9-0 lead. Pierce then followed with two more threes for Brooklyn to stake the Nets to a 15-5 lead just 3:40 into the first quarter.

Cleveland ended the final 3:55 of the frame on an 11-2 run, with Deng's layup capping the run to tie the game at 29-29 after 12 minutes.

The Nets scored the first 12 points of the second, with Anderson's 3 giving the Nets a 41-29 advantage.

Brooklyn led by as many as 16 in the period and brought a 61-50 lead to the half.

Williams scored the first seven points for Brooklyn and his 3 with 9 1/2 minutes remaining in the third helped the Nets to a 68-52 edge.

An Alonzo Gee dunk cut the deficit to 82-77 late in the quarter, but Marcus Thornton buried a triple with 7.8 seconds left and the Nets led by eight entering the fourth.

Brooklyn led comfortably in the final stanza, stretching the lead to a game- high 18.

Game Notes

Brooklyn shot 39-for-71 from the field and 14-for-29 from beyond the arc ... The Nets bench outscored the Cleveland reserves, 48-18 ... Cleveland made 37- for-87 attempts from the floor ... Brooklyn owned a 41-35 edge on the boards.






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