Nets start fast, steer out of 5-game skid with win over Thunder

The Nets checked all of the boxes.

They played with energy. They defended. They rebounded. They forced turnovers. They ran. They scored on the fast break and in the half court.

And most importantly, they won.

“At the end of the day, these guys want to win and you want to be rewarded for your work,” Nets coach Jacques Vaughn said after his team snapped a five-game losing streak by defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder, 124-115, in front of a sellout crowd of 18,147 at Barclays Center on Friday night.

The Nets (16-20) had five players score in double figures. Nic Claxton recorded a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Spencer Dinwiddie also had 23 points. Cam Thomas had 19 points off the bench. Mikal Bridges added 17 points. Reserve guard Dennis Smith Jr. chipped in with a double-double of his own with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Dating to Dec. 8, the Nets had lost 11 of their last 15 games.

They entered the day fourth in the Atlantic Division, a half-game ahead of last-place Toronto (14-20) and in ninth place in the Eastern Conference.

“First win in [2024],” Smith said. “You have to start somewhere. So what better place than the team that beat us a couple days ago? One of the top teams in the West, maybe in the league. So this is major. It should be a morale booster for us.”

During his pregame availability, Vaughn suggested that the Nets were trending in the right direction despite the lack of tangible results.

Against a Thunder squad that beat them by 16 points five days earlier in Oklahoma City, the Nets authored arguably one of their most complete performances of the season. They shot 45.1% from the field (41-for-91) and outrebounded the Thunder 51-36.

While the Thunder did shoot 54.2% from the field (45-for-83), they were held to 30% from three-point range (9-for-30). OKC committed 13 turnovers that the Nets turned into 11 points.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 34 points, Jalen Williams 20 and Chet Holmgren 17 for the Thunder (23-11).

“[There aren’t] too many players like Shai in the league, his ability to get to the rim, his ability to get to the paint,” Bridges said earlier in the day. “And then their supporting cast, they have everybody that plays so well off the ball. And they move it to, they find each other. They have a lot of talent there that plays for one another.”

The Nets led 39-21 after one quarter — Thomas snapped his 0-for-20 shooting slump with a layup 7:30 into the game — and

extended their advantage to 75-47 at halftime. The 28-point halftime lead was their largest of the season and the 75 points was their highest- scoring half of the season.

Dinwiddie’s three-pointer 1:58 into the third quarter stretched the advantage to 83-51, and the Nets entered the fourth quarter leading 101-79.

Oklahoma City outscored the Nets 8-3 to start the fourth, but the Nets, who have struggled to manage opposition runs during their slide, responded with two free throws by Dinwiddie, a free throw by Bridges and Claxton’s tip-in over the next 2:14 to stretch their lead to 109-93.

The teams traded baskets the rest of the way. Which, oddly enough, pleased Vaughn.

Why?

“You’re able to give them credit for getting the win,” he said. “We showed them two clips at halftime of how they were going to beat us. They were going to beat us in transition and they were going to beat us driving the basketball.”

The Nets received reinforcements as Smith and Lonnie Walker IV returned to action. Smith sat out Wednesday night’s 112-101 loss to the Rockets in Houston with lower-back soreness. Walker, who was on a minutes restriction, had missed 17 games with a strained left hamstring. He was 0-for-2 from the field in six minutes.