DENVER — The Nets spent all last season suffering heartbreakers. But Friday they came from behind in the final minute, and got a game-winner in the final second.
And as it has been so often this season, it was Caris LeVert that pulled the Nets out of the fire — and pulled off a 112-110 upset of the Nuggets, their third straight win.
“We’re growing as a team. Two big 20-point wins, and then to come in here against one of the top teams in the West, that’s huge growth. Now we’ve got another shot at a good team [Saturday] in Golden State,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Listen, it’s a three-game stretch and we’ve got to keep doing it for longer stretches. But I like where we are.
“I like where our defense is … and our players are buying into the system.”
Despite trailing 110-106 with less than a minute left, the Nets (6-6) climbed even. That’s when LeVert overcame a head cold and overcame Gary Harris, clearing out and getting a floater to drop with just 0.3 seconds left on the clock.
It was the go-ahead basket, and when Malik Beasley missed a 3 at the buzzer, it became the game-winner against Denver (9-3), the second-best team in the West.
“I tried to make a play … I thought he was going to scoot back at one point, but he pressed up the whole time. I saw it, and I just took it,” said LeVert, comfortable on such plays after a game-winner against the Knicks in the home opener. “Very comfortable. Coach trusts me with the ball in that situation to have the ball and everybody just get out of the way. That’s a great feeling to have as a player. That’s what you dream about when you’re a kid. I just tried to make a play for the team.”
LeVert had 17 points and five assists. D’Angelo Russell had seven of his team-high 23 points in the fourth quarter, while Jarrett Allen had seven of his 18 in the final period. But in the end it was defense behind this win, and their modest streak.
“We’re all buying into that. We fight the whole game,” Russell said. “To lose the game at the end from one mental error is hard to sleep with. As a group, we’re realizing that and trying to limit those habits.”
Russell held Jamal Murray, who torched Boston for 48 points four days earlier, to 16 on 5-of-14 shooting. LeVert smothered Harris to just four points on 1-of-11 from the floor. Though Allen got bullied early by Nikola Jokic (37 points, 21 rebounds), he held the Nuggets center to three points and 0-of-3 shooting in the fourth, with one huge turnover.
The Nets led by 14 in first quarter and again at 42-28 in the second after an Allen Crabbe 3-pointer. But the game turned tight, tied at 94, 97 and 102-all on Russell’s 3-pointer.
And after LeVert missed two free throws, Allen grabbed the rebound over Jokic and dunked with a ferocity that left the Nuggets star on his back holding his jaw.
Murray tied it again at 104 and 106-all. When Allen got blocked by Jokic, Beasley hit a turnaround and then Paul Millsap dunked to make it 110-106 with 1:03 left.
But the Nets didn’t fold. They tied it on Spencer Dinwiddie’s free throws and Allen’s dunk with 29.4 seconds left in regulation. And Jared Dudley made a savvy play, forcing Jokic into a travel to give the Nets one last shot with 22.1 seconds left on the clock.
And LeVert made it.
“Jokic was Shaq-ing it the whole night. My whole thing was to force him to have to go baseline. He kept going over the middle to score the hook shot. So it was more of a read for me,” Dudley said. “He goes baseline, I pushed Jarrett into him a bit. I don’t know if that helped with the travel, but we’ll take it. And Caris was Caris.”