Brook Lopez[1] had 20 points and tipped in a basket with .4 seconds left in overtime to lift the Brooklyn Nets over the Denver Nuggets[2] 121-120 on Friday night.
Nikola Jokic missed badly on a backward desperation shot off an inbound pass as time expired, and the Nets beat the Nuggets for the fifth straight time.
Markel Brown had 21 points to lead the Nets and Bojan Bogdanovic added 17 points. Bogdanovic made 2 of 3 free throws in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime.
Emmanuel Mudiay had 25 points to lead the Nuggets. Gary Harris added 21 points and Kenneth Faried had 17 points.
Trailing by six at the half, the Nuggets pulled in front 90-88 on Harris' fast-break layup with 23.8 seconds left in the third quarter. Brown hit a 17-foot jumper just before the third quarter buzzer sounded to tie it at 90.
The teams traded baskets and the lead through much of the fourth quarter.
Jokic made a short jumper in the lane to put the Nuggets up 104-103 with 3:40 left.
The Nets regained the lead 110-109 with 43.2 seconds remaining after Shane Larkin hit a jumper and Brown scored on a fast-break layup set up by a Nuggets' turnover.
The Nets had a chance to score after the Nuggets turned the ball over again, but Thaddeus Young missed a layup under pressure with 12 seconds left and the Nuggets rebounded.
After a timeout, the ball was inbounded to Mudiay, and he drove the lane to knock down a layup and then made a free throw to complete a three-point play for a 112-110 lead with 5.1 seconds left in regulation.
The Nets tied it with 3.3 seconds left in regulation when Bogdanovic, fouled by Mudiay as he attempted a 3-pointer, made 2 of 3 free throws. Harris' long jumper at the buzzer rimmed out, sending the game into overtime.
Bogdanovic hit three 3-pointers in the first half when the Nets took a 63-57 lead.
TIP-INS
Nets: Two-thirds of the way through their club record long nine-game trip, the Nets are (3-3). ... Bogdanovic connected on three 3-pointers to boost his season total to 92, one more than he had as a rookie last season.
Nuggets: F Danilo Gallinari missed a third consecutive game with a right ankle sprain. ... With Gallinari expected to miss at least a month, the Nuggets bolstered their roster by signing F Axel Toupane to a 10-day contract.
UP NEXT
Nets: Complete road back-to-back Saturday at Minnesota
Nuggets: Host the Dallas Mavericks[3] on Sunday
References
- ^< /sup> Brook Lopez (abcnews.go.com)
- ^ Denver Nuggets (abcnews.go.com)
- ^ Dallas Mavericks (abcnews.go.com)
