They tried to give the game away, but the New Jersey Nets were able to pull out a 98-94 overtime victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The win was just the fifth of the year for New Jersey on the road and snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Nets were down three at the half, but were poised to break away in the fourth quarter after taking the lead. However, the NBA's worst team came storming back to take a two point lead with 12 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Luckily for New Jersey, Brook Lopez was able to rebound his own miss in the lane to even up the score. On the final possession of regulation, Anthony Parker's jumper missed everything to send the teams to overtime.
In the bonus period, the Nets scored 11 of their 16 points at the charity stripe to send the Cavs to their 57th loss of the season and closer to locking in the most ping pong balls in the NBA Draft Lottery.
Lopez, Kris Humphries and Sasha Vujacic all scored 18 to lead New Jersey, but it was Humphries' career-high 23 rebounds that had the team buzzing after the game.
Ramon Sessions paced Cleveland with a game-high 21 points and J.J. Hickson added a double-double with 17 points and rebounds.
Avery Johnson's crew took three of four meeting with the Cavs this season.
The three-game road trip gets much tougher for the Nets now as they head to Orlando to take on the Magic on Friday night.