Nets end losing streak, Thunder still on skids

OKLAHOMA CITY — Something had to give when Brooklyn and Oklahoma City faced off Friday.

The Nets were mired in a five-game losing streak while the Thunder were on a four-game skid of their own.

Using a fourth quarter comeback and clutch shooting by guard Jarrett Jack, the Nets prevailed 94-92 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

“A win is a win,” Nets guard Deron Williams said. “Anytime you were on a losing streak like we were, five straight, a win is a win. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t ideal.”

As in their previous two contests, Oklahoma City began to fall apart in the final quarter, allowing Brooklyn to take the lead with a 19-11 run.

After back-to-back stops, Thunder guard Anthony Morrow and the Nets’ Jack, traded 3-pointers and Oklahoma City trailed 93-88 late.

The Thunder cut the Nets lead to two with 46 seconds left. Brooklyn guard Joe Johnson missed a shot to give the ball back to the Thunder. Guard Reggie Jackson once again took an ill-advised layup attempt in traffic, but the ball went out-of-bounds off Brooklyn, giving the Thunder another chance.

“We wanted to keep passing,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. “We had some stretches throughout the game where the ball was a little sticky. We were trying to play the right way throughout the game.”

Oklahoma City (3-11) then got the ball back to Reggie Jackson, who nailed a jumper. Johnson was fouled and hit 1 of 2 free throws to cut the Nets advantage to 94-92 with 4.9 seconds left.

After a time-out, Oklahoma City guard Jeremy Lamb inbounded the ball to Jackson, who took a 3-pointer from top of the key. It was off the mark and Brooklyn held on for the victory.

“We made enough plays to get ahead and then down the stretch we had more flaws offensively,” Brooklyn coach Lionel Hollins said. “At the end, the kid (Jackson) settled for a jump shot instead of driving for the basket and we got the win.

Jack led all scorers with 23 points on 8 of 15 shooting. Williams added 17 points while center Brook Lopez scored 16 points and 10 boards.

Jackson led the Thunder with 21 points on 9-for-19 shooting. Forward Serge Ibaka added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Brooks made a subtle change to the starting lineup by inserting guard Andre Roberson in place of Lamb. In his second game back since returning from a sprained foot, Roberson provided the Thunder with an instant spark on the defensive end as they led 27-21 after one quarter.

The Nets rode the back of Jack to get back into the contest in the second quarter. He scored 12 points off the bench, but the Thunder still led 53-49 at halftime.

Oklahoma City was unable to pull away in the third, despite Ibaka scoring 10 points. Jack and Johnson made sure to keep the Thunder within striking distance as they trailed by only three points.

“It was just a lot of effort,” Lopez said. “We did a good job gang rebounding as a team; all five crashing the boards and boxing out made it easier.”

NOTES: Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said F Kevin Durant and G Russell Westbrook will both participate in practice Saturday. “They had good workouts the last couple days,” Brooks said. “Probably not any of the contact stuff, (but) they will go through some of our practice and we’ll go from there.” Per the NBA’s hardship rule, neither can return to the lineup until the Nov. 28 home game against the New York Knicks. … Brooklyn F Andrei Kirilenko didn’t make the trip to Oklahoma City with the team. Coach Lionel Hollins was asked if Kirilenko would rejoin the Nets after the two-game road trip. “I have no idea,” Hollins said. “I make choices and that’s the way we go.” Kirilenko was a DNP/coach’s decision or inactive the previous three games. … With the Nets in town, it gave former Boston teammates C Kendrick Perkins of the Thunder and F Kevin Garnett of the Nets a chance to catch up. “We talked a little noise last night on the phone,” Perkins said. “(Garnett) was like ‘we on one (losing streak), so they trying to get a win and I said (shoot) I’m on one too, we trying to get a win. So he’s still my big homie but not right now, though.”