The Nets took care of business on Sunday, with complete disregard for NBA Draft lottery odds, defeating the Atlanta Hawks 122-114 at Barclays Center on the second night of a back-to-back set.
Brooklyn snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 23-45 with 14 regular-season games left. It retains the fifth-best draft lottery odds, 0.5 games ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers.
“Every opportunity for us is valuable, as players, as a coaching staff,” Cam Johnson said. “Every rep counts, and we’ll try to make them count.”
D’Angelo Russell (right ankle injury management) and Noah Clowney (right ankle sprain) were ruled out against Atlanta.
The Nets entered the night having recorded at least 30 assists in each of their last three games, and that superb ball movement continued against the Hawks, as they handed out 11 assists on their first 13 field goals.
All nine rotation players who touched the court in the opening frame scored, led by Jalen Wilson, who scored eight points in his first eight minutes. Everything was clicking for Brooklyn at that end of the court early, and it led the Hawks 33-27 after one quarter thanks to a 56.5% shooting effort.
Brooklyn led by 12 points with 9:07 left in the first half. Then Atlanta woke up.
The Nets shot just 35.7% in the second quarter and committed seven turnovers, which gifted Atlanta 10 points. The worst of it was surrendering a punishing 26-9 run that put the Hawks up 62-56 at halftime.
Brooklyn trailed by as many as 10 points early in the third quarter but closed on a 29-20 run over the final 9:25 to cut its deficit to one point entering the fourth quarter. Keon Johnson and Tyrese Martin were essentially the Nets’ entire offense in the period, as they scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, on a combined 9-for-14 shooting.
“We knew we had to get our communication a whole lot better,” Keon Johnson said. “We had to make the game a little more blurry for [them]… and we just stuck with it as the game went on.”
Cam Johnson closed down the stretch 10 points on 3-for-4 shooting, Atlanta was limited to 41.7% shooting in the final frame, and Brooklyn pulled away by double-digits late to get back in the win column for the first time since March 10.
Cam Johnson finished with 28 points, four rebounds and a career-high-tying seven assists. Keon Johnson added 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Trae Young led Atlanta with 28 points, six rebounds and 12 assists.
“He was a little too frustrated, and he got himself back into the game, made those 3s, forgot about all the complaining,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said of Cam Johnson’s performance. “That was the best thing to me.”
The Nets wound up dishing out 33 assists for the game, their fourth straight game with at least 30, which matched a franchise record. Trendon Watford (13) and Maxwell Lewis (10) combined for 23 points off the bench, helping the team to a 36-33 edge in bench points.
Brooklyn will return to action on Tuesday against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.