NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Spencer Dinwiddie and the Brooklyn Nets didn’t sound bothered that a team that hasn’t won in almost a month took them to overtime.
They were more gratified to know their defense could bail them out on nights when shots aren’t falling.
Dinwiddie scored 31 points and the Brooklyn Nets beat New Orleans 108-101 in overtime on Tuesday night, extending the Pelicans’ franchise-long losing streak to 13 games.
“I know I sound like a broken record, but it’s the same old thing,” Dinwiddie said. “If we can hold a team to 100, then we have a chance to win.
“Tonight, we were pretty bad offensively,” he added.
Joe Harris scored 24 points as he and Dinwiddie scored more than half of the Nets’ points on a night when they shot 41.7% (40 of 96) and missed 28 of 39 3s.
“The shots will definitely come. We’ve just got to continue to be aggressive,” Harris said. “Sometimes you’re going to have a couple of games - a stretch - where you might be off, but what’s important is that the defense has been constant throughout. That’s something that’s really encouraging, that when you can play that solid defensively and give yourself a chance to win.”
Harris curled to the right wing on a play drawn up out of a timeout, received the inbound pass and immediately pulled up for his fifth 3 of the game to put Brooklyn ahead 104-98 with 1:28 to go in the extra period.
Brandon Ingram quickly responded with a 3, but the Pelicans, who missed 71 of 108 shots on the night, got no closer.
“The guys, they are still competing and playing hard,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. “This was probably our best defensive game against a team that’s really a good offensive team. … I didn’t think we got discouraged. I though we played. I thought we battled. We just came up short.”
Ingram had 22 points and 10 rebounds but missed 10 of his first 11 shots before scoring all but two of his points after halftime. Jrue Holiday scored 21 points for the Pelicans, who kept the game competitive despite shooting 34.3% and missing 29 of 40 from 3-point range.
Jarrett Allen had 12 points, 14 rebounds and tied a career-high with six blocks for the Nets, who’ve won five of seven.
“It was an ugly game,” said Allen, whose transition dunk to tie the game at 93 in the final minute of regulation. “I don’t know how we pulled it out.”
No team led by more than eight points in a game with 14 lead changes and 13 ties.
Brooklyn looked primed to take control when Taurean Prince scored his first points of the game on a transition 3 with 2:53 left in regulation for an 89-83 Nets lead.
But the Pelicans quickly responded with Holiday’s layup and Lonzo Ball’s 3, then took a 93-91 lead when Holiday was fouled while attempting a two-handed dunk that rolled in off the front rim.
Holiday and Dinwiddie both missed 3s in the final half-minute or regulation.
“They’re going to break their streak. We’re just happy it wasn’t against us,” said Nets guard and former LSU star Garrett Temple. “For us to be in OT after shooting the way we did against a desperate team like that on the road, we felt good that we were going to be able to close them out.”
TIP-INS
Nets: Dinwiddie has scored 24 or more points in five of his last six games. … Reserve David Nwaba had 12 points, going 2 of 3 from 3-point range. … The Nets shot 41.7% (40 of 96) and missed 28 of 39 3s.
Pelicans: Executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said rookie Zion Williamson’s surgically repaired right knee is now “fully weight-bearing,” allowing him to begin some on-court basketball activities including shooting. “We are a little ways away yet, but today was a really big first step,” Griffin said. Williamson is now beyond the initial six- to-eight-week timeframe for his rehab from a scope of his meniscus. Griffin did not provide a new target date for his return. … J.J. Redick did not play because of his sore left groin. … The Pelicans had 17 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Brooklyn 59-55, but had only 13 second-chance points.
DRY SPELL
The Pelicans led by as many as eight points in the first half when Josh Hart made three 3s in less than two minutes to make put New Orleans up 35-27 with 7:30 left in the second quarter.
The Pelicans then went scoreless for the rest of the half, missing 16 straight shots and turning it over three times, twice on shot-clock violations.
The Nets took advantage with a 15-0 run during which Dinwiddie scored eight points and took a 42-35 lead into halftime.
New Orleans’ scoring drought ended just short of nine minutes on Ball’s pull-up jumper.
“We defended amazingly,” Temple said. “Any stretch like that has an effect on the game.”
UP NEXT
Nets: Visit San Antonio on Thursday night.
Pelicans: Visit Minnesota on Wednesday night.
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