National Basketball Association
Brooklyn 143, New Orleans 114
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, January 20, 2017
Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Officials: #43 Dan Crawford, #35 Steven Anderson, #10 Ron Garretson
Attendance: 17004

NEW ORLEANS -- The Brooklyn Nets hadn't done much right during an 11-game losing streak that contributed to the NBA's worst record.

But they did virtually everything right in a 143-114 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night in the Smoothie King Center.

Brook Lopez and Bojan Bogdanovich scored 23 points apiece and five teammates came off the bench to score in double figures for the Nets, who won for the first time since a 120-118 victory against Phoenix on Dec. 26.

“I think the group was together," Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson said. "(They were) moving the ball and playing side to side. I really liked our defensive mentality coming out. I thought our defense kind of in a weird way got our energy going. Maybe we stumbled on to something, maybe we didn't."

Spencer Dinwiddie was a third Brooklyn starter to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points. Rookie Caris LeVert led the Nets' reserves with 17 points, Luis Scola scored 14 in eight fourth-quarter minutes, Quincy Acy and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson each had 12 and Randy Foye had 11. The Brooklyn bench outscored the New Orleans bench 73-47, shooting 65 percent from the field (26 of 40).

Overall, the Nets shot 57.8 percent (48 of 83) and 50 percent (15 of 30) on 3-pointers in the highest-scoring game of the season for the NBA's second-lowest scoring team.

Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 22 points despite sitting out the fourth quarter. Davis suffered a right quad contusion early in the game and played through it until the score got out of hand. His status was unclear for the Pelicans' next game at home against Cleveland on Monday.

Dante Cunningham scored 14 points, Terrence Jones came off the bench to score 13, Jrue Holiday had 12 and rookie Buddy Hield added 11.

The Nets led by 12 at halftime and scored 10 points on their first four possessions of the third quarter to build the lead to 76-56.

"It was just a fantastic group effort, and our guys are so good on the defensive end just helping each other," Lopez said. "We controlled them on the offensive glass, and we were good in transition in a lot of areas.

"It was so important the way we came out in the third quarter, and just kind of made a statement and held the lead, and it went from there."

The Pelicans got within 13, but the Nets expanded the lead to 26 on two occasions and had a 109-84 advantage after three quarters. It led by as many as 33 points in the fourth quarter as the benches mostly went head-to-head.

"You've got to play the right way," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said. "We didn’t get into playing the right way after the first quarter. When you get a team who comes in and all of a sudden they're making shots and they’re pushing the basketball down your throat, then the result is that you get your (butt) kicked and that's exactly what happened to us. One hundred percent."

The Nets outscored the Pelicans 60-18 in the paint. They made their first 19 free throws and finished (32 of 35) at the line.

Davis didn't have a field goal in the early going, but Cunningham made up for it with eight points and the score was tied at 13.

Holiday and E'Twaun Moore each made a 3-pointer and Davis scored seven straight New Orleans points as the Pelicans built a 30-21 lead.

Acy and LeVert both made a 3-pointer as Brooklyn cut the lead to 32-29 after the first quarter.

The Nets started the second quarter with a 22-8 run and took an 11-point lead midway through.

Davis scored eight points as New Orleans got within eight, but LeVert scored Brooklyn's last five points and the Nets led 66-54 at halftime.

"We did not make shots," Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans said. "We did not push the ball. Everyone on their team hit shots and there is not much we can do about that."

The Pelicans are 17-27 and the Nets are 9-33.

NOTES: The Nets rested F Trevor Booker and G Sean Kilpatrick. ... Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said F/C Anthony Davis, who was named a starter in the All-Star Game on Thursday, would be in line for a more prestigious award if his team was better than its standing of 10th in the Western Conference entering play Friday. "If our record were better there would be a lot of conversation about him having an MVP year because he has done everything possible for us," Gentry said. ... Brooklyn entered having won one of its 19 road games. ... New Orleans entered the game having won its last six games against the Nets, including a 104-95 win on Jan. 12. ... Brooklyn signed F Quincy Acy to a second 10-day contract on Friday.
Top Game Performances
 
Brooklyn   New Orleans
Bojan Bogdanovic 23 Scoring Anthony Davis 22
Caris LeVert 6 Assists Jrue Holiday 8
Quincy Acy 8 Rebounds Anthony Davis 9
Bojan Bogdanovic 9 Free Throws Made Terrence Jones 5
Isaiah Whitehead 2 Steals Tyreke Evans 2
Brook Lopez 3 Blocks Anthony Davis 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Brooklyn 143 57.8 15-30 32-35 24 52 6 5 16
New Orleans 114 41.0 11-34 17-23 21 47 8 8 9
Upcoming Games
  • New Orleans will play their next game at home against Cleveland. The Pelicans have a W/L % of .412 after a win and .370 after a loss.
  • Brooklyn will play their next game on the road against Charlotte. The Nets have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .265 after a loss.