EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.—In a game he came off the bench to finish as the high scorer with a career-best 25 points, Kris Humphries suffered the indignation of a blocked dunk when Clippers center Chris Kaman sent back the Net forward’s attempt with just fewer than four minutes to play.

Vengeance came three minutes later, courtesy of rookie swingman Terrence Williams, who blew by Eric Gordon to lay waste to Kaman’s ego with a thunderous over-the-head tomahawk. The dunk capped a 13-5 run that left the Nets up 15 with 59.2 seconds to play, sealing an eventual 103-87 victory, the Nets’ fourth of the season.

During that three-minute run, point guard Keyon Dooling – starting for a second straight game in place of an injured Devin Harris (sprained right wrist) – scored twice, assisted two other buckets and started a fast-break with a steal. He totaled 10 points in the fourth on 5-of-5 shooting, breaking out with 18 points and eight assists overall after struggling along with the rest of the team during a four-game road trip he called the worst of his life.

“(Tonight) was something we can build off of,” Dooling said. “We’re starting to grasp some of the defensive concepts. We really did a good job of trying to do the right thing. We shared the ball tremendously tonight and it was a good win for us.”

That win was keyed by an all-out effort on both ends of the floor, which enabled the Nets to stake a 23-20 first-quarter lead that grew to 51-41 by halftime, despite the absence of Harris and fellow starting guard Courtney Lee (dental). Chris Douglas-Roberts fought through an early-morning stomach virus to turn in a four-point, four-rebound first quarter while harassing Gordon into two turnovers, allowing his fellow sophomore to take only a single shot in the opening six minutes.

Douglas-Roberts seemed particularly motivated while making his first start at shooting guard, playing alongside Trenton Hassell, after spending much of the year at small forward. He opened the Nets’ scoring with a catch-and-shoot jumper assisted by Brook Lopez (19 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 steals), following that by splitting the defense on a dribble-drive that started beyond the three-point line. During the rest of his 9-minute, 20-second first-quarter stint, he also tossed a transition alley-oop to Lopez and committed his only turnover of the period getting whistled for an offensive foul while attempting a reverse layup.

That type of aggressiveness was echoed by everyone on the roster, and it was most evident in Humphries’ inspired play. The sixth-year forward has taken full advantage of the opportunity afforded by the trade that brought him to the Nets from Dallas, hustling and banging his way to seven-game averages of 14.0 points and 6.9 rebounds in 24.5 minutes.

“Kris played great,” Douglas-Roberts said. “He definitely played great tonight. He’s always aggressive. He’s always physical. And that will get you over the top on any night.”

Humphries’ effort off the bench was complemented by solid performances from Williams, who racked up seven points, eight assists and nine rebounds, and Hayes, who scored seven of his nine points in the fourth quarter. After missing his first four long-range attempts, Hayes nailed his only trey following Humphries blocked dunk, pushing the lead back to 10 and kicking off the clinching run.

The rookie ended that run with a flourish, and admitted that his line reflected the culmination of a recent run of successful play; his minutes have increase in each of the last five games, from 4:19 against Indiana to 30:58 against the Clippers. He’s hoping to further the stretch, and continue playing as he did in college, when he impacted the game across the board without needing to score.

And it didn’t hurt getting to put the capstone moment on a victory, though Williams played innocent when it came to the thought that burning Gordon for a highlight-reel flush might have had something extra to it. Gordon was picked by the league to participate in a two-man “dunk-off” qualifier for the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest at this year’s All-Star Weekend in Dallas.

“No comment,” Williams said, laughing. “Nah, it is what it is. I’m not worried about the dunk contest anymore – they pick the contestants, I just play basketball.”

For more on the Nets, be sure to follow @netsbasketball on Twitter or visit our Fan Page on Facebook.

<< Back to All Access News