Nets get last ‘Splash’ on Warriors

Jack’s Jumper Propels Brooklyn over League-Leading Golden State

March 3, 2015 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Jarrett Jack sent Nets fans home happy Monday night after drilling a game-winning jumper against the league-leading Warriors at Downtown’s Barclays Center. AP photo

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Jarrett Jack wasn’t having it.

After listening to a good portion of the 17,732 fans stuffed into Downtown’s Barclays Center cheer the exploits of Golden State’s “Splash Brothers”, most notably MVP candidate Stephen Curry, the Nets’ point guard made sure Brooklynites roared loudest at the end of the night.

Jack offset three consecutive 3-pointers by Curry, the last of which knotted the contest at 108, by drilling a game-winning 17-footer with just over a second left on the clock, lifting the rejuvenated Nets to a 110-108 victory and improving their record to 4-2 since the All-Star break.

“Coach drew it up, and it was intended for me to get put in the pick and roll situation and then, based on what the defense did, make a play,” said Jack of his second game-winner of the season and first since Feb. 2 here against the Los Angeles Clippers. “So I saw an alley, they were kind of getting in a little crease against one of my rhythm spots, and I was able to raise up and knock the shot down.”

Jack also knocked down the sentiment of a good portion of the sold-out arena, which apparently came to see Curry and fellow “Splash Brother” Klay Thompson, who endured a brutal 3-of-17 shooting night en route to only seven points.

Curry, on the other hand, was held in check for most of the evening by Jack, but found his range just as it appeared the Nets were ready to salt away their biggest win of the season.

The winner of the NBA All-Star 3-Point Shootout in this very building last month was just 5-for-16 from the floor before going on his late run, which turned a 108-99 lead with 3:24 remaining into a dead even contest with just over a minute left.

Chants of “M-V-P!” filled the Barclays as the Nets tried to pull themselves together for one final push.

“I kind of forgot where I was for a second to be honest with you,” Curry admitted.

Nets head coach Lionel Hollins knew exactly where he was, and didn’t take kindly to the hometown crowd lauding the Warriors’ “Golden Boy”.

“Well, we can send all of those Golden State fans home that came to watch here in Brooklyn tonight,” Hollins noted. “That’s what I told the team. We have to excite our crowd and get them to be Brooklyn Nets fans and not just opposing team fans. This is definitely the start. When you win games like this, people take notice. They keep coming back and eventually they start rooting for you versus the other team.”

Jack’s big shot was definitely set up by Brook Lopez’s effectiveness along the interior. The 7-footer matched Curry with a game-high 26 points, pulled down six rebounds and blocked a shot in 25 minutes off the bench.

It was the pick-and-roll with Lopez that led to Jack’s game-winner against the Clippers last month, and the play worked to perfection yet again when the playoff-hopeful Nets needed it most Monday night.

“The Clippers’ game was the same thing,” said Hollins. “And that’s all we’re hoping for is to get a good look. And Jarrett made the shot and we go home happy.”

Deron Williams scored 22 points, Alan Anderson had 16 and newly acquired forward Thaddeus Young added 14 in his home debut for Brooklyn, which won its third straight overall at Barclays after capping an eight-game road trip with a 104-94 victory in Dallas on Saturday night.

The Nets (25-33), who hold a half-game lead over Indiana and Charlotte for the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot, may finally be ready to further solidify their postseason position and make a push up the standings.

“I think we have been looking at [the playoff race] all season,” admitted Williams, coming off his first back-to-back 20-plus point performances of the season. “We just haven’t been able to put it together, and we are starting to play better. This was a huge win for our confidence and the Dallas one was as well.”

Hollins also believes the Nets are coming together as a team for the first time this year.

“Well, its obviously better chemistry, better camaraderie,” he said. “We’re playing more for each other. We’re kind of buying into our roles and also the system that we’re running as well. And we’ve been competing in the last six games. We’ve been in every game and had a chance to win each one of them, and that what you want as a team.”

Nothing But Net: Over his last 14 games, including only one start, Lopez is averaging 17.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. … The Nets have shown a penchant for pulling out the close ones this season, improving to an NBA-best 7-1 in contests decided by three points or fewer with Monday’s triumph over Golden State. … Jack, a member of the Warriors during the 2012-13 season, admitted that it was fun to go up against many of the players he helped mentor during his time in the Bay Area. “I mean, these are my old guys,” Jack said. “It’s always good to lay against your former team. … And record-wise, they’re the best in the league. You always get up for these kinds of games.”