TORONTO — The Nets won the game.
Many will fret it’s helping lose them the war.
Or the lottery.
Brooklyn — now in full-on tank mode — stormed from behind to earn a 101-94 win over Toronto at Scotiabank Arena.
It’s a pyrrhic victory that will be sweet today but could sting come June.
The Nets (11-16) were 3 ½ games ahead of Toronto in the standings, thus the same distance behind in the race for the league’s worst record.
Brooklyn snapped a three-game skid but hurt its odds at winning the lottery or even securing a top-four pick.
But the Nets competed, fought and used a 25-9 run over the last nine minutes.
Brooklyn got a huge night from Cam Johnson, who had 33 points, 10 boards and six assists.
The forward accounted for 64.5 percent of Brooklyn’s offense in the pivotal fourth quarter, with 15 points and two assists, creating five points off those dimes.
“Yeah, just to compete for 48 minutes,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said of his mandate. “Obviously, we’ve gone through a little readjusting with the groups and who we have, and everybody deals with injury, so that’s no excuse with that.
“Like I said, the moves are part of the business. And we’ve just got to keep working and do what we’ve done so far. We just go there to fight. Give yourself a chance. Do it together and we’ll live with the result.”
With point guard and leader Dennis Schroder traded to Golden State, Brooklyn’s offense struggled early.
Leading scorer Cam Thomas missed his eighth straight game with a strained left hamstring and won’t be reevaluated until the weekend.
Minus his offensive punch, the Nets lack other players who can beat their man off the dribble.
But Johnson did it for them, with the third-highest scoring night of his career.
Brooklyn trailed 81-72 after Kelly Olynyk’s free throw with 9:40 to play.
But the Nets mounted a blitz over the next five minutes.
Johnson’s turnaround gave them an 88-86 edge and capped the run.
His short jumper knotted it at 90-all with 2:24 left.
Then, after a defensive stand, he followed with a tie-breaking 3-pointer.
Johnson’s free throws pushed it to 95-90 with 1:20 left, and they cruised.
Starting center Nic Claxton got ejected in the first half for tossing the ball into the stands.
He’d just been intentionally fouled by Kelly Olynyk, and may have been vexed over a no-call on his missed attempt on the possession prior.
Whatever the case, it’s Claxton’s third ejection already this season in just his 21st game logged.
And his discipline might have been even worse if not for the quick reactions of Brooklyn assistant Juwan Howard, who kept him from throwing what appeared to be a seat cushion following the ejection.
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But despite Claxton’s gaffe, Brooklyn handed tanking Toronto a sixth straight loss. And earned a pyrrhic victory.
Reece Beekman made his Nets debut Thursday night.
The undrafted rookie, who arrived in the Schroder deal earlier this week, checked in for Dorian Finney-Smith with 3:30 left in the third quarter.
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It marked just his third career NBA game, after a pair of short cameos for Golden State against New Orleans, totaling two points in four minutes of action.
Trendon Watford has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain, and his status will be updated in a week.
Ziaire Williams (left knee sprain) has progressed to on-court contact workouts with coaches.
He’s slated to be integrated into team activities within the next week.
