CLEVELAND _ For four quarter and two overtime sessions, D'Angelo Russell struggled through a 7-for-24 shooting night, but in the third overtime, Russell channeled his newly minted All-Star identity to score 11 straight points and 14 overall on 6-for-6 shooting in the extra session to send the Nets to a hard-fought 148-139 win they felt they had to have Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Nets climbed a game above .500 and reached the 30-win plateau at 30-29 heading to the All-Star break. They had eight players score in double figures led by Russell, who scored 36 to go with eight assists and seven rebounds, Joe Harris had 25 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 17 and DeMarre Carroll had 18, including the miracle buzzer-beating 3 that forced the third OT.
The Cavs (12-46) were topped by 42 points from Jordan Clarkson and got 24 from Collin Sexton and 23 from Marquese Chriss.
After playing from behind nearly the whole game, the Nets found a little rhythm on offense in the fourth quarter, coming back to tie it at four times in the final three minutes of regulation, ending with a Russell layup at 1:02 to make it 109-all. Caris LeVert missed a potential winning three, and Carroll rebounded and missed a mid-range shot to send the game to overtime.
In the first overtime, Russell made two free throws for a 118-116 advantage with 16 seconds to go. The Cavs inbounded, and after Jarrett Allen blocked two shots at the rim by Chriss, Sexton tied it again on a layup with 2.8 seconds left before the Nets botched a play at the other end to go to a second overtime.
Back-to-back 3s by Chriss gave the Cavs a 124-121 lead with 2:20 left, but Chriss then fouled out at the 2:07 mark. But the Nets took a 125-124 lead at 49.9 seconds on a Harris drive.
Clarkson put the Cavs back in front with a foul-line jumper at 39.5 seconds. Clarkson added a pair of foul shots and a three-point lead with 3.8 seconds left. The Nets inbounded to Carroll, who wanted to get it to Harris but was forced to step back and launch a right-wing 3-pointer that fell through at the buzzer to send it to overtime three tied at 128. It was the miracle the Nets needed.
Despite their surprising .500 record coming into the Cavs game, the Nets allowed their cushion to slip away with five losses in their previous six games and they were playing without starters Rodions Kurucs (left elbow soreness) and Treveon Graham (personal reasons). But the 12-win Cavs also were without starters Tristan Thompson (left foot soreness) and Kevin Love (rest). The Nets came in with a degree of payback on their minds after losing at home to the Cavs on Dec. 3.
Thanks to 5-of-5 3-point shooting by Harris and Allen Crabbe in the first quarter, the Nets came away with a 30-29 lead. In the second quarter, Clarkson suddenly looked unstoppable, scoring 11 points in a 16-4 run that pushed the Cavs' lead to 45-34.
Their lead eventually reached 12 points late in the period, but the Nets closed the first half with a 13-4 run, including four points each from LeVert and Jarrett Allen to cut their deficit to 58-55. In the third period, a17-6 Nets run that ended with a pair of 3-pointers by Russell gave them a brief one-point lead before a Matthew Dellavedova foul shot tied it at 84 going to the final quarter.
