The Brooklyn Nets erased a 16-point Orlando advantage, but just as soon as they caught the Magic in the fourth quarter, Orlando took control again on the way to a 101-89 win over Brooklyn.
Down 13 at halftime, the Nets played their way back into the game with a 32-point third quarter. They carried some of that momentum over into the fourth. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scored Brooklyn’s first five points of the quarter, with his drive tying the game at 76 2:30 into the quarter. Wilson Chandler’s spinning drive 30 seconds later had the Nets up 78-76, their first lead since the end of the first quarter.
But the drive stopped there. Orlando scored the next 11 points and outscored the Nets 25-11 to the buzzer.
Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie each scored 16 points to lead Brooklyn, and were the only Nets to score in double-figures. Brooklyn made just 10-of-47 3-pointers and shot 33.3 percent overall as their sixth straight loss dropped them to 16-19.
The Nets were down 13 at halftime after Orlando controlled the second quarter.
Brooklyn led 22-20 at the end of a low-scoring first quarter after Rodions Kurucs scored the last five points of the period. But Orlando opened the second quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers and an 8-0 run.
That stretched into an 18-7 quarter-opening burst that had the Magic up by nine. After the Nets cut the led to 38-33, Orlando scored 14 of the next 17 points and went into halftime leading Brooklyn 52-39.
Still down 12 with under four minutes to go in the third quarter, the Nets put together a 10-2 run to get within four, starting with a Dinwiddie 3-pointer. Garrett Temple converted a three-point play, DeAndre Jordan put back a rebound, and Dzanan Musa’s two free throws brought Brooklyn within 71-67 before Orlando took a 75-71 lead into the fourth quarter.