CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Nets picked up a key win, but also may have lost a key player.
Because of a huge performance from Brook Lopez, who finished with 34 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, the Nets emerged with a desperately needed 91-88 win over the Hornets Wednesday night inside Time Warner Cable Arena. The victory moved them back to within a half-game of eighth place as the death march for the final three playoff spots in the Eastern Conference continues.
The win allowed the Nets (30-40) to remain 1 ¹/₂ games behind in the race for the final playoff spot while also ensuring they clinched the tiebreaker over the Hornets because of a 2-1 edge in the season series.
But it also might have cost them Thaddeus Young. The power forward left the game midway through the third quarter with a hyperextended left knee.
“I’m just very sore right now,” said Young, who stepped on Gerald Henderson’s foot, causing his ankle and leg to bend awkwardly and send him crashing to the floor in pain, grabbing at his leg. “I’ll be fine. It’s just one of those things where I’m going to wake up tomorrow like, ‘Man.’
“But I’m cool. I’ll be fine. Everything was negative so far, so I’m just ready to try to get myself back out there.”
Young, who said he was “very, very sore” on the inside of his knee, eventually got up and walked off the court under his own power, going straight to the locker room. X-rays were negative. He’s expected to undergo an MRI exam on Thursday.
While Young was getting checked out, the Nets were being carried to a crucial win because of an immense performance from Lopez, who was able to get whatever he wanted inside all game long.
Lopez and Al Jefferson, his Hornets counterpart, are two of the best scoring centers in the league, and spent most of the game taking turns scoring against one another.
Though Jefferson also played well, finishing with 23 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots, it was Lopez who made plays when it counted, scoring six out of eight points during one stretch late in the fourth quarter when both teams took turns exchanging baskets as they alternated between being tied and the Nets holding a two-point lead.
“His touch right now near the basket is off the charts,” said Deron Williams, who finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and 14 assists — eight of which came on passes to Lopez. “We just need to keep feeding him in pick-and-rolls and exploiting it whenever we have a chance.”
That’s not to say the Nets made it easy on themselves, as Jarrett Jack fouled Kemba Walker when the Nets were up four with 12 seconds left — though they were fortunate Walker made just one of the two free throws. Lopez threw a careless inbounds pass to Williams that Hornets guard Mo Williams deflected off the Nets guard out of bounds with 3.2 seconds remaining and the Hornets down three, giving Charlotte a chance to tie the game.
But Gerald Henderson’s attempted inbounds pass was tipped up in the air by Lopez, and it bounced harmlessly to the floor as time expired.
“We were the team that made the plays down the stretch we needed to,” Williams said.
And, at least for one night, that allowed them to stay in the playoff race.