Cam Johnson lethal early, Trendon Watford clutch late as Nets outlast Hornets, 116-115

NEW YORK — Even without Cam Thomas and the luxury of a healthy center, the Nets rallied from an early 17-point hole to beat the Charlotte Hornets, 116-115, on Tuesday at Barclays Center. A balanced scoring effort, fueled by a season-high 34 points from veteran forward Cam Johnson, was enough to outlast the unremitting visitors down the stretch.

With the Nets clinging to a 109-108 lead with two minutes left, Trendon Watford, making his second appearance of the season off the bench, proceeded to score seven straight points to put them up 116-111 with 38.9 seconds left. It was a three-point game with 5.5 seconds left, but a 3-pointer from Charlotte’s Brandon Miller fell short as time expired. Watford led all Nets reserves with 10 points in the win.

In snapping a season-worst three game losing streak, Brooklyn (6-9) earned its sixth win of the season and first of the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup. It is now 1-1 in East Group A and will play its next NBA Cup game on Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.

The short-handed Nets found themselves down 22-9 out of the gate. Charlotte went 8 of 12 from 3-point range in the first quarter and had a 14-point lead entering the second. That advantage swelled to 17 points with 10:05 left in the first half.

But there was too much basketball left to be played. Coach Jordi Fernandez’s Nets never stopped fighting, eventually channeled better effort at both ends of the court and rallied. A Jalen Wilson trey with 1:42 left in the first half cut Brooklyn’s deficit to two, although they ultimately went into the locker room at halftime down five.

Johnson led all scorers in the first half with 16 points. After giving up 37 points on a 68.4% clip in the first quarter, the Nets held Charlotte to just 22 points on a 32% clip in the second and outscored them by nine points.

Back-to-back makes from behind the arc from Wilson and Dorian Finney-Smith gave the Nets their first lead of the night, 60-59, with 10:49 left in the third quarter. They kept pouring it on over the next four minutes and built an 11-point lead, but it was only temporary separation, as the Hornets would score 12 points off six Brooklyn turnovers to take a two-point lead, 87-85, into the final frame.

With Thomas out, Watford stepped up as the closer Brooklyn desperately needed down the stretch. Miller led Charlotte with 29 points and All-Star guard LaMelo Ball was limited to 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting.

All five of the Nets’ starters finished in double figures, including Ben Simmons and Wilson, who scored 10 and 17 points, respectively. Wilson, who went 5 of 8 from deep, set a new career high for 3-pointers made in a game.

And Johnson has been playing elite basketball as of late. His 34 points on Tuesday were the most he has scored in a Nets uniform. After having just six games with at least 20 points last season, he already has six such games across his first 15 appearances this season. Brooklyn also enjoyed its fourth game with at least 30 assists (31) this season.