Deron Williams snapped out of a lackluster second half in time to save the Brooklyn Nets from a painful collapse.
One game after coming up empty in the final minutes of a close loss to Memphis, Williams scored for 11 of his 31 points in the final 1:24 in New Orleans, and the Nets snapped a two-game skid by holding off the Hornets, 101-97 on Tuesday night…
Williams was coming off a game against the Grizzlies in which he went scoreless during the last six minutes, with one shot blocked and a turnover with 10.9 seconds left with his team trailing 74-72.
After scoring 20 points in the first half in New Orleans, Williams had only one basket during the next 22:36 as the Hornets nearly erased a deficit that had been as large as 22. Then Williams drained a timely 3, added a fadeaway jumper, and followed that with six free throws in the final 18.7 seconds to seal it…
Brook Lopez added 20 points and four blocks while playing against his twin brother, Robin, and Keith Bogans added 12 points for Brooklyn, hitting all four of his shots, including three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Williams made four of his eight 3-point attempts, and the Nets shot 60 percent (12 of 20) from long range as a team.
Greivis Vasquez scored 20 and Robin Lopez 14 for New Orleans, which has lost four of five.
— Reported by Brett Martel of the Associated Press
