Anthony Morrow made the most of his return to the starting lineup Friday night in Toronto.
The shooting guard had been relegated to the bench, but an injury to rookie MarShon Brooks gave Morrow an opportunity. Morrow gave a league-worst New Jersey offense a much needed lift.
He scored 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting points in the Nets’ 97-85 win over the Raptors. Morrow matched a career-high six three-pointers made.
Deron Williams added 24 points and nine assists in his return to the lineup.
Despite shooting 38.8 percent from the field, the Nets’ offense blew the game open late in the third quarter. Rookie Jordan Williams capped an extended 19-6 run with a baseline jumper. The jumper prompted the Raptors to call a timeout with 9:41 remaining in the game, but the Nets led, 81-64.
“We haven’t had that spacing, really, in any of the games until tonight,” said Deron Williams, referring to the team’s 15 three-pointers. The Nets shot 48.4 percent from beyond the arc.
“Coming into the season as a coaching staff, we thought we were going to be a much better three-point shooting team than we were last year,” Avery Johnson said. “Our three-point shooters made threes (tonight).”
The Nets once again overcame an injury to win their second game of the season. Center Mehmet Okur left the game in the first quarter with back spasms and he did not return.
Brooks missed the game with a sprained ankle while Damion James is expecting an MRI Saturday to reveal the damage on his foot. Veteran DeShawn Stevenson, who scored 12 points, started in place of James.
Johnson credited Stevenson for the defensive job he did on Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan, who shot 1-of-6 and finished with three points.
“The player of the game for us tonight was DeShawn Stevenson,” Johnson said. “The defense he played on DeMar DeRozan was unbelievable.”
The starting lineup marked the fifth different combination Johnson has started the game with in just eight contests.
Already short Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries and Shelden Williams picked up the slack ably.
Humphries struggled from the field, but grabbed 16 rebounds playing with a sprained left shoulder. Shelden Williams scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds in 24 minutes.
The Nets were never really in danger as they led throughout the night.
A pull-up three-pointer from Deron Williams sparked an 11-0 run in the second quarter. The Nets led, 42-35, and they never trailed again.
The Nets went into halftime with a 48-40 lead and closed the third quarter up, 75-64.
There is not much time to salvage this win, however. The Nets return home Saturday night to host the Miami Heat at the Prudential Center.
The Heat won its previous game, 116-109, in three overtimes against the Atlanta Hawks. Miami won the game playing without stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who sat out with injuries.
Their status against the Nets is unknown.
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