The Clippers squandered a 20-point first half lead and Jordan Farmar scored all of his points in the second half to lead New Jersey to the come-from-behind 102-98 win in overtime in Newark.
Farmar – playing extensive minutes due to the absence of Deron Williams – caught fire in the second half, scoring all of his 24 points which led led the Nets (21-43) outdual the Clippers 31-16 in the third.
(Jordan Farmar and Blake Griffin (on the floor) go after a loose ball in Friday night’s game)
The Nets could have won it in the last 30 seconds after Kris Humphries drew two consecutive offensive fouls on Blake Griffin and then they took a one-point lead with seconds to go in regulation.
Griffin then tried to win it for the Clippers with a drive for the final shot, but he was fouled and sent to the line for two free throws. He made the first attempt – which tied the score – but missed the second one and the game went into overtime.
The Nets used 7-footer Brook Lopez on consecutive plays in overtime and outscored the Clippers 8-4 to win it.
“Turnovers and down the stretch they attacked and we backed up,” said Griffin, when asked what the difference was in the second half. “I thought we did a good job, especially in the first half. In the second half we just let up. They applied the pressure and we didn’t do too well.”
The Nets started the game slowly and shot a measly 28% in the first half and, at the same time, the Clippers played like they did against the Celtics two nights ago and took a 14-point lead at halftime
New Jersey then caught up to the Clippers (25-41) in the fourth and each team traded baskets and took the lead the from each other in the last several minutes.
“We didn’t come out (in the second half) defensively with the urgency we needed to. We let the Nets get back in the game,” said head coach Vinny Del Negro.
Griffin and Chris Kaman led the Clippers with 23 points and 10 rebounds apiece and Randy Foye added 19 points and seven assists.
(Blake Griffin drives against Kris Humphries in third quarter action)
Lopez scored 24 along with Farmar and Kris Humphries had 19 points and a career-high 20 rebounds to lead New Jersey. Deron Williams was out of the lineup for the Nets because he was with his wife, who had recently given birth to the couple’s fourth child.
The Clippers play the Washington Wizards and rookie John Wall for the first time this season on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the nation’s capital and New Jersey plays Monday at 5 p.m. in Memphis.
