Nets hold on, finish home-and-home sweep of Magic

[November 12, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Brook Lopez scored 20 points, Kris Humphries added 14 points and 21 rebounds, and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Orlando Magic 82-74 on Sunday to complete a home-and-home sweep.

Deron Williams finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and a couple of key plays down the stretch after what once appeared to be another blowout turned into a close game. The Nets beat the Magic 107-68 at Orlando on Friday and jumped out to an early 20-point lead in this one.

But after losing a 22-point lead at home against Minnesota on Monday, Brooklyn almost coughed up another huge cushion, letting Orlando get within five in the final 2 minutes.

Glen Davis had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who have dropped four in a row after opening with two wins in their first season since trading Dwight Howard.

Aaron Afflalo also scored 19 for the Magic, who won their last five games against the Nets in New Jersey but so far don't match up against the rebranded team in Brooklyn.

Playing without Jameer Nelson (right hamstring), Al Harrington (right knee) and Hedo Turkoglu (broken left hand), they simply don't have enough offense, coming into the game ranked 26th in the NBA with 90.6 points per game. They couldn't even get 20 points in the first seven quarters against the Nets, then managed 21 in the final period of this one.

Joe Johnson scored 13 for the Nets, who are still without starting forward Gerald Wallace, who hasn't played since spraining his left ankle in the season opener.

That didn't matter Friday, and sure didn't look like it would early Sunday.

A 14-2 run gave the Nets a 19-8 lead, and when Orlando got within seven late in the first quarter, Brooklyn scored the final 11 points, highlighted by C.J. Watson's six points in 4 seconds.

He made a 3-pointer, then stole the inbounds pass and drew a foul while making a layup. Reggie Evans' free throws made it 35-17 headed to the second.

Andray Blatche's basket to open the second made it a 20-point game, but Afflalo had a pair of three-point plays in a 12-2 surge that cut the lead in half. Brooklyn recovered and went into the half leading 50-35.

The Magic then outscored the Nets 18-13 in a tough-to-watch third quarter in which the teams combined to shoot 12 for 34, and cut it all the way to 75-70 on Davis' basket with 2:07 remaining in the game.

Williams answered with a jumper, and after another basket by Davis, he found Lopez inside for a 79-72 advantage with 59 seconds to play. He added a free throw to push it to eight and the Nets were safe from there.

Orlando finished 1 of 12 from 3-point range.

NOTES: Magic coach Jacque Vaughn spent two years with the Nets from 2004-06. ... Jerry Stackhouse, 38, finished with five points after scoring 11 on Friday in his Nets debut after sitting out the first three games. ... Reserve MarShon Brooks (sprained left ankle) also was sidelined for the Nets. Coach Avery Johnson said he wanted to see both Wallace and Brooks go through a practice before they could return. ... The Magic play their third consecutive game against a New York team when they host the Knicks on Tuesday.

[Associated Press; By BRIAN MAHONEY]

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