Russell pulls Nets past Cavs in 3rd OT


Reuters | Updated: 14-02-2019 10:43 IST | Created: 14-02-2019 10:43 IST
Russell pulls Nets past Cavs in 3rd OT

D'Angelo Russell took over in the third overtime, scoring 14 of his 36 points, and the short-handed Brooklyn Nets outlasted the host Cleveland Cavaliers for a wild 148-139 victory on Wednesday. Russell began the game by missing 10 of his first 11 shots, but he was 6 of 6 in the third overtime and finished 13 of 30 from the floor.

After the Nets forced a third overtime on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by DeMarre Carroll, Russell made a handful of plays to help the Nets snap a four-game road losing streak in their last game before the All-Star break. Russell put the Nets ahead with a 16-foot pull-up jumper eight seconds into the third OT. After Jordan Clarkson's 3-pointer gave Cleveland a 131-130 edge with 4:25 remaining, Russell hit a floater to put the Nets up for good with 4:14 left.

Russell then buried a 3-pointer, two more pull-up jumpers and two free throws as the Nets extended the lead to 141-134 with 76 seconds remaining. After Clarkson hit a 3-pointer to slice the deficit to four points, Russell hit his second 3-pointer of the period to make it 144-137 with 43.5 seconds remaining. The Nets improved to 5-1 in overtime games this season. They earned their third win in the past nine games overall by matching the second-most points scored in a single game in franchise history.

Russell was among eight double-figure scorers for the Nets, who only had nine available players. Besides Spencer Dinwiddie and Jared Dudley sitting out with their long-term injuries, Brooklyn's starting frontcourt of Treveon Graham (personal) and rookie Rodions Kurucs (sprained left elbow) were unavailable. Joe Harris added 25 for the Nets, who shot 46 percent from the floor and played four players at least 40 minutes. Carroll added 18 points and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson contributed 17 for Brooklyn, which played its eighth triple-overtime game in franchise history.

Clarkson led all scorers with a career-high 42 points. Before Carroll forced the third overtime, Clarkson appeared to give Cleveland the win in double overtime by hitting a 16-footer with 39.5 seconds left and two free throws with 3.8 seconds left. Collin Sexton added 24 and Marquese Chriss had a season-high 23 for the Cavaliers, who rested Kevin Love. Cleveland shot 45 percent from the field.

--Field Level Media

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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