• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Nets begin western swing in Phoenix

Nov 12, 2014 - 2:38 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Brooklyn Nets will play three straight and six of their next eight games on the road, starting with Wednesday's contest against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center.

The Nets went 3-1 on a recent homestand and won for the fourth time in five tries with Sunday's 104-96 triumph versus the Orlando Magic. Bojan Bogdanovic and Deron Williams scored 22 and 18 points, respectively, while Joe Johnson added 13 points.

Bogdanovic's 22 points were a career high.

The game was tied with 5:55 remaining when Nets coach Lionel Hollins subbed in Bogdanovic, Johnson and Kevin Garnett for Mirza Teletovic, Jarrett Jack and Mason Plumlee.

"We had a lot more intensity and quickness," Hollins said of his team after the substitutions. "We matched up better with them."

Brook Lopez netted 12 points and has scored in double figures in all four games he's appeared in this season.

Williams was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from Nov. 3-9, and has recorded 15 or more points and six or more assists in all six games.

Johnson posted his 4,000th career rebound on Sunday, becoming the seventh player in NBA history to record 17,000 points, 4,000 rebounds, 4,000 assists and 1,600 3-pointers. He also sprouted off on Tuesday, lamenting the Nets as "selfish."

The Nets are third in the NBA in fourth quarter scoring (26.2).

Phoenix ended a two-game slide the last time out in a 107-95 victory over the Golden State Warriors. It was Golden State's first loss of the season following a 5-0 start.

The Suns put the Warriors away with a 36-16 advantage in the fourth quarter and were led by Isaiah Thomas's 22 points off the bench. Thomas went 13-of-14 from the foul line.

"I was just making plays," said Thomas. "I was trying to be aggressive and I would get in the lane and just make a play. Guys were open and they knocked down shots. It started at the defensive end though, we got stops and got out running."

Gerald Green and Goran Dragic scored 19 points apiece and Marcus Morris ended with 17 for the Suns, who shot 43 percent and scored 30 points off 27 Golden State turnovers.

Phoenix, which is averaging 41.4 ppg off the bench, is 4-3 this season and 1-2 on a four-game homestand, which comes to an end Friday versus Charlotte.

The Suns lost both meetings with Brooklyn last season and are winless in the last five games in this series. The Nets go for their fourth straight win in the desert, but are 4-16 in the last 20 trips there.