If the fans in London were hungry for the NBA before, they are really going to be crazy for the sport after seeing the New Jersey Nets take out the Toronto Raptors 137-136 in a triple overtime classic. The victory gave the Nets a sweep of the short two-game series at the famous o2 Arena.
Brook Lopez paced the Nets with a game-high 34 points, season-high 14 rebounds and tied a career-high with eight blocks even though he fouled out of the game in the second overtime period. Sasha Vujacic had 25, including six-of-nine from beyond the arc to fill the role of sharpshooter with Anthony Morrow sitting out due to a concussion.
New Jersey also got a pair of huge double-doubles from Deron Williams (21 points, 18 assists) and Kris Humphries (20 points, 17 rebounds) who both played more than 50 minutes in the marathon game.
For all of the fireworks they put up on offense, it was a pair of free throws by Travis Outlaw that helped provide the winning margin for New Jersey.
The Raptors were led by Andrea Bargnani in defeat with 35 points and 12 rebounds. DeMar DeRozan poured in 30 for the second straight night for Toronto, while Leandro Barbosa had 22 off the bench and rookie Ed Davis added 12 points and 15 rebounds.
All told, there were 26 ties and 18 lead changes as neither team could put the other away. Fittingly, Toronto had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Bargnani's 22-foot contested jumper wouldn't go down.
For their incredible efforts on Saturday night, both teams get to jump on a plane and head back to North America to resume their normal schedule on Wednesday. The Raptors will face the Deron Williams-less Jazz in Toronto, while the Nets take on the Golden State Warriors in Newark.