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Nets snap skid with win over Utah

Jan 20, 2011 - 5:03 AM Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Brook Lopez scored 20 points, Sasha Vujacic had 15 off the bench and the New Jersey Nets snapped a six-game losing streak with a 103-95 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Hours after their owner took them out of the Carmelo Anthony Sweepstakes, saying the negotiations had taken a toll on his team, the Nets responded with a balanced attack for only their second win in 13 games.

Lopez and Vujacic led seven scorers in double digits and New Jersey led by as many as 16 points.

The Nets held Utah to 42 percent shooting and shut the door on a possible comeback in the fourth quarter. Al Jefferson led the Jazz with 21 points and Deron Williams scored 20 with 10 assists.

"We had a chance to get in the ball game, but you gotta have a perfect finish and we didn't have that," said Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan.

"I think we're better than what we played. Give them credit."

It was a team win for the Nets, who got 14 points and six assists from Devon Harris, 13 points from Travis Outlaw, 12 points apiece from Derrick Favors and Kris Humphries and 11 from Jordan Farmar.

In a news conference prior to the game, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said he has instructed the team to walk away from trade talks involving Anthony, the Denver Nuggets star who has long been rumored to be on his way to the Garden State.

Prokhorov, a Russian billionaire who purchased the Nets in September 2009, said he believes the trade talks cost his team wins and canceled an upcoming meeting with Anthony.

"He's still figuring out a couple of things. He hasn't been an NBA owner for very long, but whatever decisions he makes we stand by," Nets head coach Avery Johnson said.

With that soap opera seemingly out of the way, the Nets took the court at Prudential Center seeking their first win since January 5.

Tied at halftime, New Jersey took control of the game with a 29-16 third quarter. Lopez scored 11 of his 20 points in the stanza and the Nets out-shot Utah 53-22 percent, holding the Jazz to just four field goals.

A lot of the damage was done during a 14-4 run that gave New Jersey a 71-57 lead with four minutes remaining in the quarter. The Nets carried a 77-64 advantage into the fourth and their lead ballooned as high as 16 points soon after.

Later, Utah cut its deficit all the way to two points with a 15-4 run, capped by Jefferson's three-point play to make it 93-91 with 1:52 remaining. But Lopez and Vujacic followed with layups to start an 8-0 New Jersey run that put the game away.

The Nets overcame an early eight-point deficit with a 23-7 run to end the first quarter up eight, 27-19. They led by as many as 12 before halftime, but Utah scored 21 of the next 30 points to tie the game at 48-48 heading into the locker room.

Kirilenko scored 12 points to lead all players in the first half, while Favors had 10 for New Jersey.

Game Notes

The Nets snapped a four-game losing streak in the series...New Jersey opened a five-game homestand that will also include games against the Pistons, Mavericks, Cavaliers and Grizzlies...The Jazz are 0-2 on a five-game road trip that will finish with games at Boston, Philadelphia and the LA Lakers.