National Basketball Association
Brooklyn 120, Charlotte 118
When: 7:30 PM ET, Monday, December 26, 2016
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Officials: #38 Michael Smith, #64 Justin VanDuyne, #4 Sean Wright
Attendance: 17732

NEW YORK -- Randy Foye accepted the blame for not blocking out Cody Zeller with two seconds remaining. Moments later, he was accepting the hugs and congratulatory reactions from teammates.

Foye touched off a wild celebration Monday night when he hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Brooklyn Nets snapped a five-game losing streak with a 120-118 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

The Nets faced a 118-117 deficit when Zeller beat Foye to the rebound of Kemba Walker's missed layup with 3.5 seconds left. After getting the board, Zeller hit what seemed like the winning hoop for Charlotte with 2.3 seconds remaining.

"It was my fault," Foye said.

Brooklyn called a timeout and designed the play for Brook Lopez. Lopez never touched the ball after Bojan Bogdanovic inbounded to Foye, who began the final possession positioned in the paint.

"I was over there inbounding the ball, I didn't know what to do, to call timeout or give it to Randy," Bogdanovic said. "But he was wide open, and thank God he made the shot."

Foye gained possession after running out of the paint to the perimeter and moved a few steps to his left by the top of the key before Walker could fully cover him. Just as Walker inched closer, Foye released the shot and the ball cleanly went through the hoop.

"He's like a step late and I saw him running out and just jab and just went up," Foye said. "It just felt good as soon as it left my hand."

Foye then raced over the bench and was mobbed on the floor by his jubilant teammates. Coach Kenny Atkinson raised his arms in triumph and then joined in the celebration.

"The first thing you think of is the person and how hard he's been working since he's been quote, unquote out of the lineup," Atkinson said of Foye, who played a combined 23 minutes in the previous seven games. "It speaks to his professionalism and staying ready."

"I just kind of reacted and then we were all in a scrum like a second later," Lopez said. "I don't know if I've run that fast all season."

Foye's dramatics capped a night that began with the Nets playing fully healthy for the first time but ended with Jeremy Lin dealing with a left hamstring strain. Lin reinjured the same hamstring that kept him sidelined for 17 games from Nov. 4 to Dec. 10 in the third quarter and the Nets did not have an update.

It was Brooklyn's first buzzer beater since Joe Johnson beat Denver on Feb. 8. It was Foye's second career buzzer beater and first since a game-winning 3-pointer against the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 3, 2014, while playing for Denver.

"The guy made a great shot," Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. "He's a professional scorer and he's been doing this a long time."

"Randy just made a good play," Walker said. "It was a good shot."

Before the dramatics of each team's last possession, the Nets rallied from a 14-point third-quarter deficit and led 117-111 on consecutive 3-pointers by Sean Kilpatrick and Bogdanovic in a span of 30 seconds. Charlotte came right back with a four-point play by Nicolas Batum and another 3-pointer by Batum.

Bogdanovic came off the bench for the first time and led the Nets with 26 points, Kilpatrick added 23 and Lopez contributed 11 of his 20 in the fourth quarter.

Batum led the Hornets with 24 points and Jeremy Lamb added 17. Walker was held to 15 points, going 6 of 17 from the field and 1 of 8 in the second half.

Before blowing the lead, Charlotte scored 40 points in the first quarter and took a 63-54 lead at halftime. The lead increased to 68-54 early in the third quarter and the Hornets settled for an 88-83 edge entering the fourth.

NOTES: Charlotte G/F Marco Belinelli missed his first game of the season with a sprained left ankle. Belinelli was helped off the court Friday after injuring the ankle in the second quarter. ... Nets rookie G Isaiah Whitehead returned after missing three games with a sore left foot. ... Charlotte coach Steve Clifford's first head coaching job was with Long Island's Adelphi College when he won 86 games from 1995 to 1999. "Listen, if the money was better, I would have been right there today," Clifford said. ... F Joe Harris made his first start of the season and it marked the 12th starting lineup used by Brooklyn through 30 games. Harris made his second career start and went scoreless in 11:57 on Monday. His other was Jan. 5, 2015, with Cleveland when he scored 16 points in 32 minutes at Philadelphia.
Top Game Performances
 
Charlotte   Brooklyn
Nicolas Batum 24 Scoring Bojan Bogdanovic 26
Kemba Walker 6 Assists Brook Lopez 5
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 10 Rebounds Trevor Booker 12
Nicolas Batum 8 Free Throws Made Bojan Bogdanovic 8
Nicolas Batum 3 Steals Jeremy Lin 2
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 2 Blocks Brook Lopez 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Charlotte 118 46.8 8-26 22-25 23 44 3 11 11
Brooklyn 120 53.3 15-31 25-31 26 39 8 4 15
Upcoming Games
  • Brooklyn will play their next game on the road against Chicago. The Nets have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .348 after a loss.
  • Charlotte will play their next game on the road against Orlando. The Hornets have a W/L % of .588 after a win and .500 after a loss.