A 3-point shooting surge sparked a fourth-quarter rally for the Brooklyn Nets, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Golden State Warriors' 19-point lead as the defending NBA champions held off the Nets for a 120-114 win at Barclays Center on Sunday night.
The Nets were down 93-74 late in the third before Spencer Dinwiddie closed the quarter with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. It was a sign of things to come. The Nets made seven threes in the first 6:32 of the fourth quarter on the way to climbing within two points with under two minutes to go.
The Nets were still down by 15, 108-93, when they launched a 15-2 run initiated by back-to-back D'Angelo Russell 3-pointers. LeVert hit another, then fed Jarrett Allen for a layup. LeVert's dunk and Russell's drive had Brooklyn within 110-108. But Kevin Durant answered for Golden State and Stephen Curry followed with a 3-pointer.
The Nets finished up 20-42 (47.6 percent) their fifth straight game shooting over 40 percent from 3-point range. That included encouraging shooting nights from LeVert and Crabbe, who each came into the game shooting under 30 percent from deep five games into the season. Each made 4-of-7, as did Dinwiddie.
Russell made 5-of-8 threes in his team-high 25-point night with six assists and six rebounds. LeVert had 23 points and seven assists.
The Warriors got 35 points from Curry and 24 from Durant.
The Nets jumped out to a 26-19 lead just over 7:30 into the game making 10 of their first 16 shots and five of their first seven 3-pointers. LeVert had two of those threes and 10 of Brooklyn's first 26 points, with his 3-pointer giving the Nets that seven-point lead.
But the Warriors took off on an 11-0 run -- all the points scored by either Durant or Curry -- to pull ahead and take a 32-29 lead after the first quarter. Curry had 16 points, and he and the Warriors kept rolling from there.
They outscored the Nets by 11 points in the second quarter in building a 63-49 halftime lead. With the Nets within 44-39, a 13-3 lead had Golden State up by 15. Curry had 24 points by halftime, with five 3-pointers. The Warriors were shooting over 60 percent for most of the first half before forging that halftime lead on 56.8 percent first-half shooting, including 46.7 percent from the 3-point line.
After the sharpshooting start, the Nets made just eight of their last 27 shots before halftime. But that did include 45 percent (9-20) from 3-point range.
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The Nets visit the Knicks on Monday night, then have three straight at home: Detroit, Houston and Philadelphia. A four-game road trip follows, tipping off in Phoenix on Nov. 6.