EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.—The offense wasn't the problem. Brook Lopez and Devin Harris topped 20 points, Yi Jianlian posted a double-double and Kris Humphries tallied 15 points off the bench. The team pushed the ball in transition, and traded baskets for the better part of a half.

But when Kiki Vandeweghe opted to rest Devin Harris midway through the second quarter of Friday's game at the IZOD Center, any semblance of defense disappeared. The Pacers went on a 24-5 run that culminated in a 20-point halftime lead they never relented, beating the Nets easily, 121-105. Indiana finished the game 13-of-23 from three-point range, tying the most three-pointers by a Nets opponent this season.

"They went on a run with some outside shots, mostly threes, and they shot the ball extremely well tonight, from three," Harris said. "They do a good job of reading the screens and popping back. And they were ready to shoot. They weren't open for long, but their shots are quick and they made us pay for the mistakes that we made out there."

Harris finished the game with 22 points and nine assists while only turning the ball over twice, and the first quarter was among the strongest he's played all season. Pushing the tempo and looking smooth on jump shots, Harris pumped in eight points and two assists, sinking a three-pointer and earning a trip to the line – in fewer than eight minutes.

The point guard played equally well in the second quarter (9 points, 2 assists), but was pulled with the Nets trailing by three and 5 minutes, 17 seconds to play. When he returned not three minutes later, the Nets were down 15, and they were outscored 7-2 in the final two minutes.

"The first thing about Devin is it started on the defensive end," Vandeweghe said. "He was aggressive defensively. Got himself going early and he was taking the ball to the basket. That's when he's at his best. Early transition and taking the ball to the basket. You just cannot stop him, you cannot stay in front of him. If we can play that way, eventually everything will be fine."

The point guard effectively fed the Nets' bigs, connecting with Lopez on several alley-oop dunks, and setting up reserve forward Kris Humphries for a number of layups. Yi struggled with his shot, connecting on 5-of-13 attempts after starting only 1-of-7. Yet he aggressively drove, earning eight free-throws and sinking seven, and also managed to pull down 10 rebounds.

Starting swingmen Courtney Lee and Chris Douglas-Roberts combined to shoot only 3-of-13, tallying 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. It's a line either is readily capable of producing individually, and the Nets know they need to the duo to quickly return to form if they're to succeed on the upcoming West Coast trip ... along with a similarly inspired performance from the point guard.

"Dev came to play tonight," said backup point guard Keyon Dooling. "It looked like the Devin of last year. It actually started the second half of the Boston game and carried over. That’s what we need, though. We need that old Devin Harris that he was last year, if we’re going to get this thing corrected.

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