The energy in The Izod Center equaled that of a playoff game. The winless New Jersey Nets wanted to break through while the Charlotte Bobcats did not want to be their first win.
Down the stretch, second-year players Brook Lopez and Courtney Lee had the final say. The sophomore starters powered the Nets to a 97-91 win in front of 12,131 raucous fans.
Lopez scored 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while Lee notched a career-high 27 points.
Kiki Vandeweghe, a winner in his first game as a head coach, praised his team's effort in the win.
"I was very, very pleased with the effort," Vandeweghe said. "Something that we had talked about was competing for four quarters. That's part of building a foundation of a team."
After taking over for Lawrence Frank, Vandeweghe tried to change his players' mindsets by appealing to their love of the game.
"What we tried to achieve is the guys getting back to enjoying playing basketball," Vandeweghe said. "The harder you play, the more you enjoy, the more aggressive you are, the more you enjoy basketball.
"The one thing we talked about...was finding out why you started playing basketball," Vandeweghe added. "You start playing basketball because you had a passion for it, you enjoyed it... That's what was missing in my opinion and hopefully we keep building on that."
Devin Harris embodied that passion with 1:07 left in regulation. The all-star point guard leaped into the stands to save a loose ball. The Nets led, 95-86, at the time.
"It was a ball that we needed at that time," said Harris, who scored 16 points in the game. "I didn't expect to go that far, but it's something that we needed. I wanted to show the guys that we needed this game and how important it was to us."
With the game tied, 86-86, and 2:21 remaining in the game, Lee scored four straight points that ended with a breakaway dunk. New Jersey never relinquished that lead.
Lee started his first game since Nov. 6 at Philadelphia. The shooting guard suffered a strained groin driving for a lay-up and has been out of the starting rotation ever since.
According to Harris, the Nets tried to get Lee involved early.
"We played to his strengths," Harris said. "He got it going early...He was aggressive and he had the hot hand so we fed him obviously off of Brook. He played more of his [type] of game."
The Nets trailed,69-68, heading into the fourth quarter. The Nets led for almost the entire fourth quarter, but New Jersey squandered a late six-point lead when Stephen Jackson knocked down consectuive three-pointers with 2:50 left to play.
The Nets came back with a 9-0 run and sealed the game. According to Chris Douglas-Roberts, the prospect of another late loss never entered their minds.
"That's a losing attitude, that's a loser's attitude," said Chris Douglas-Roberts, who scored eight points. "I never thought about [it like here we go again]... We did a great job of responding tonight.
"I saw a lot of guys that looked like new guys out there," Douglas-Roberts said.
The Bobcats led by as many as eight points in the third quarter, but the Nets' offense was able to cut into the lead. Harris broke an 8-0 Charlotte run with a driving lay-up to cut the deficit to 66-60.
New Jersey and Charlotte played the first half close to the vest. In the game, there were 10 lead changes, and the game was tied 11 times.
Jackson and teammate Raymond Felton did the brunt of the Bobcats' scoring. Each player set a season high with 28 points apiece.
The Nets will try and spark a new streak on Sunday. New Jersey travels to Madison Square Garden for a noon tip with the New York Knicks. The 1-18 Nets will take on a 5-15 Knicks team coming off a 114-107 win over Atlanta.
Dooling returns
After missing the first 18 games while recovering from offseason hip surgery, veteran guard Keyon Dooling returned to action against the Bobcats.
Dooling backed up Harris while Alston missed his second straight game with a sore knee. Dooling played 16 minutes and scored two points on 1-of-4 shooting.
Dooling has supported his team from the bench during his injury and continued to do so tonight. He enjoyed his return and kept coaching from the sideline.
"I think my contribution came more from the sideline tonight, but nevertheless, it was a good feeling," Dooling said. "It felt great [to play again], and I can't wait until I'm all the way where I need to be so I can really, really contribute to this team."
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