NEW ORLEANS — After heartbreakers in Boston and Cleveland, the Nets were staring at a gut check Monday night.
It turned out their guts were just fine.
The Nets flipped the script from their late blown leads, earning a 107-105, come-from-behind win over the Pelicans before a sellout crowd of 16,895 at Smoothie King Center.
“It was good just to finally win a fourth quarter,” said Cam Thomas, who scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter. “We gave up a lead in the third; they go on their run, then went on another run early in the fourth, so we got down. But credit to the guys for staying composed, sticking together, and making big-time shots when they needed it.”
Thomas made the biggest shot when the Nets needed it.
Down 105-101 with 1:16 left, the Nets closed with the final six points. They got a layup from Cam Johnson (15 points), a go-ahead 3-pointer from Thomas with 32.9 seconds to go in regulation — with coach Jordi Fernandez trying to call a timeout — and a couple of defensive stands to make sure there was no overtime.
It made the trip back from Bourbon Street sweeter.
“It would’ve been a rough flight if we didn’t get this one,” said Ben Simmons, who had 12 assists off the bench. “It was important to finish this road trip the right way.”
The road trip had been a galling one for the Nets (5-6).
They’d lost in overtime Friday at the defending champion Celtics and then blew a fourth-quarter lead the next night against the Cavaliers, the league’s last remaining unbeaten.
But they got back on track Monday. Barely.
The Nets trailed by seven in the fourth quarter, and 105-101 after Brandon Boston Jr.’s dunk off a turnover by Ziaire Williams, starting for injured Dorian Finney-Smith. But Dennis Schroder (14 points) found Johnson for a running layup to cut the deficit in half with 1:15 to play.
Then Thomas — not noticing his coach calling a timeout but seeing the clock and looking to get two possessions to New Orleans’ one — went for a step-back 3.
“It’s expected. … He’s just different. His mindset was different, taking those shots,” Simmons said. “And we have a lot of faith and trust in he is going to make them.
“I told the guys, if it gets to 37 [seconds] and we’re unorganized, I’m going to call it. And I saw ourselves unorganized,” said Fernandez, who’d witnessed late-game chaos cost them Saturday in Cleveland. “I was calling it, but CT, he did what he does: step-back 3. And basketball gods [intervened] because I was really calling timeout.”
Luckily for the Nets.
“I’m glad he didn’t, and I’m glad I didn’t see him, because that would’ve been real bad,” laughed Thomas, who missed one of two at the line with 14.9 seconds left to leave New Orleans a chance to tie with a deuce.
Javonte Green missed from 3, then after Thomas grabbed a rebound and got tied up, ending with a jump ball.
The ball went out of bounds, initially ruled off the Nets. But Fernandez won a challenge to get it reversed, and Schroder ran out the clock.
After getting beaten on the glass, 35-28, through three quarters, the Nets outrebounded the Pelicans, 18-10, in the fourth while holding them to 30.8 percent shooting.
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“Just focusing on that, hitting bodies and then actually going for the ball, having that mindset. That’s all it is,” Simmons said.
After watching Brandon Ingram light them up for 22 points in the first half, they blitzed the ball out of his hands and held him to just two the rest of the way. With Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum out, the Pelicans had no answer.
“That was big for us,” Noah Clowney said. “We had a few games against really good teams where we played down to the wire and we don’t close in the fourth. So for us to close in the fourth was a big step in the right direction. Even though it’s not always pretty, we got it done.”
