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Nets rally to clip frigid 76ers

Feb 1, 2009 - 5:51 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Brook Lopez had a huge game and the New Jersey Nets rallied for victory on Saturday, but they also had a lot of help.

Lopez collected 24 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Nets to an 85-83 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

While Lopez had a strong game, the story was as much what the 76ers didn't do - score - as what the Nets did to come back.

"This was obviously a disappointing loss for us. We felt we had control of the game all the way up through the third quarter," Philadelphia coach Tony DiLeo said.

Philadelphia missed its final 18 attempts from the field and scored just eight points in the fourth quarter.

"We could not score. They went to a zone and threw us off our rhythm," DiLeo said. "When they went back to a man, we never got back into anything. We had some makable shots, we just didn't make them. It was a freaky situation scoring only 25 points in a half. That is not typical for us."

Lopez slammed home a missed layup by Devin Harris with 16 seconds left to give the Nets an 84-83 lead. Jarvis Hayes added a free throw and the game ended with the 76ers getting a pair of shots blocked and an inbounds pass with one-tenth of a second to play being knocked away at the horn.

"Devon got a great attack and drew my defender," Lopez said. "There was no one there to help so it was a wide open dunk for me and I was able to finish it and clean up."

"I thought that those guys showed huge fight and grit," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "It just goes to show you, that if you play a little defense, you give yourself a chance."

Philadelphia led 58-50 at the half and 75-65 entering the fourth when the wheels came off.

The Sixers pushed the lead to 12 early in the fourth, then missed their last 18 shots over the final 10 1/2 minutes. The Nets went on to outscore the 76ers, 20-7, in the fourth as Philadelphia shot 2-of 22 in the quarter.

The end of the game was fitting considering how the fourth quarter went for Philadelphia.

After Lopez gave the Nets the lead, Louis Williams missed a jumper from the top of the key. Hayes was fouled after grabbing the rebound and made 1-of-2 from the line with 9.7 seconds to go.

Andre Iguodala then drove into the lane and dished to an open Andre Miller, whose layup attempt was blocked by Trenton Hassell. The Nets lost the ball out of bounds after the block and Miller inbounded crosscourt to Royal Ivey, but Harris blocked his jumper from the corner with one-tenth of a second on the clock.

"The unsung hero was Trent Hassell. He was huge," Frank said. "To step in there after not playing regularly and to do what he did. He made so many huge plays on both ends of the floor. His denials on (Andre) Iguodala, then he does a huge drive and kick to get Jarvis (Hayes) the three.

"I give our guys a great deal of credit for there were so many big play that were made. Our role players stepped up and played huge and found a way and deserve a great deal of credit."

Miller led Philadelphia with 19 points and Iguodala added 18.

"It's frustrating to lose a game like that," Iguodala said. "To lose a game like that puts a bad taste in your mouth. It's a must win game in our next game. We've got to make it up."

Harris scored 17 points for the Nets, who lost Vince Carter early in the fourth with a sprained right ankle.

"When Vince (Carter) went down, we just stepped it up," Harris said. "We got some stops and we rebounded. It was a struggle on the offensive end all night long but we defended well when we needed to. We guarded the paint in the first three quarters. We got them to take contested two's."