NEW YORK (AP) ― The Nets won the crowd ― and the game.
Things sure looked and sounded different for them in their first matchup against the New York Knicks in Brooklyn.
The Nets pulled out a 96-89 overtime victory on Monday night, tying the Knicks for first place on a breakthrough night for their franchise.
With their fans outnumbering and at times outchanting the Knicks’ counterparts for a change, the Nets improved to 7-1 in their new home, sending this new-look rivalry off to a stirring start before a sellout crowd of 17,732.
“Every time some sort of Knicks contingency started to cheer, our fans got louder,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said.
New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler dunks against the Brooklyn Nets in the first half. (AP-Yonhap News)
Jerry Stackhouse, wearing the No. 42 Jackie Robinson made famous in Brooklyn, hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3:31 left in overtime as the Nets controlled the extra period of a playoff-like game that neither team led by more than seven.
Brook Lopez had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Deron Williams added 16 points and 14 assists as the Nets tied the Knicks atop the Atlantic Division at 9-4.
Carmelo Anthony had 35 points and 13 rebounds, but was only 10 of 16 at the free throw line. Tyson Chandler finished with 28 points and 10 boards, but no other Knicks player was in double figures.
Thunder ride 40-point lead
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ― Russell Westbrook tipped away a pass, got into the open court all by himself and then braced for a big take-off and a signature throwdown dunk. Instead, he meekly flipped the ball into the basket and grinned sheepishly at the Oklahoma City Thunder bench after the miscue.
“I really thought he was going to do something a little better than what he did, but I’ll take up for him and say he slipped a little bit,” said Kevin Durant, the three-time NBA scoring champion.
“But he made up for it at the end of the half.”
Did he ever.
Westbrook powered home a right-handed slam to put an exclamation point on one of the most dominant first halves in NBA history, putting Oklahoma City up by 40 on its way to a 114-69 blowout of the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night.
The 64-24 advantage was the fifth-biggest halftime lead in NBA’s shot clock era and the largest since Golden State set the record with an 88-41 edge on Sacramento on Nov. 2, 1991, according to STATS.
It ended up as the biggest blowout in Bobcats history.
“We struggled to hit shots, we struggled to get good shots, we got beat on the boards. We got beat in all facets of the game,” Charlotte center Brendan Haywood said. “In a game like this tonight, you just basically say they beat us in every which way possible and you bounce back and you learn from the film.”
San Antonio 118, Washington 92
Detroit 108, Portland 101
Milwaukee 93, Chicago 92
Memphis 84, Cleveland 78
Utah 105, Denver 103
New Orleans 105, LA Clippers 98
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