Utah Jazz guard Gordon Hayward (20) is defended by Golden State Warriors’ forward Andris Biedrins (15) during the second half of their NBA game in Salt Lake City, Utah, yesterday.
BROoklyn, New York: Guard Joe Johnson hit the game-winner at the buzzer in overtime to lift the Brooklyn Nets to a 113-111 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks yesterday.
Johnson carried the Nets on his back down the stretch at the Barclays Center arena by nailing a three-point shot near the end of regulation to send the game into overtime.
He shot 10-of-18 from the field and finished with 24 points for Brooklyn who snapped a 13-game losing streak to the Bucks.
Point guard Deron Williams had 19 points with nine assists as the Nets emerged from the National Basketball Association all-star break to earn their third-straight win.
Andray Blatche and CJ Watson came off the bench to score 14 and 11 points respectively for the Nets in front of a crowd of 17,334.
“It’s huge. When our bench comes in and plays like that, we are a tough team to beat,” said Johnson.
This was Williams first game back after missing two straight with an ankle injury. He has been one of the Nets top scorers this season, averaging 16.7 points per game heading into Tuesday’s contest.
Brook Lopez also had 19 points and nine rebounds for Brooklyn, who are 12-11 in the first game after the mid-season break dating back to the 1989-90 season.
Lopez is fresh off his performance in the all-star game where he had three points and five rebounds in just over 10 minutes of playing time.
Brandon Jennings had a game-high 34 points and Ersan Ilyasova contributed 21 points and nine rebounds for Milwaukee, who lost their fifth in six contests.
Larry Sanders returned after missing four games and finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and six blocks in the loss. Sanders has at least one blocked shot in his last 34 games.
The Bucks suffered their first loss to the Nets since March of 2009. The Nets improved to 20-10 at home this season.
Meanwhile, sharp-shooting Danilo Gallinari made a vital contribution on his return to action as the Italian forward led the Denver Nuggets to a 97-90 victory over the Boston Celtics yesterday.
Gallinari had missed two games through illness but with the regular season resuming after the All-Star break, his 26 points, laced with four three-pointers, helped the Nuggets snap a three-game losing streak.
With the game tied 84-84 midway through the fourth quarter, Gallinari drained his final three-pointer and the home Nuggets rode the momentum with a 10-2 run that put them in position to close out the win.
Ty Lawson matched Gallinari’s 26 points while Kenneth Faried added seven points and 16 rebounds for Denver (34-21).
“I’m just attacking, not thinking about whether I should shoot it, not second-guessing my shot,” Lawson, who has averaged 27.5 points in his last four games, told reporters.
“I’m just trusting myself and it’s been working out for me.”
The Celtics (28-25) had won seven of eight games since the loss of Rajon Rondo to a season-ending knee injury but once they fell behind in the final quarter, they were unable to stay in touch with the Nuggets. Agencies
