Lonnie Walker IV and the Nets finally managed to stay one step ahead of their opponents at Barclays Center this season. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II
For the first time in four visits this season, fans at Downtown’s Barclays Center spilled out onto the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush with smiles on their faces and a victory in their pockets.
Lonnie Walker IV scored 21 points off the bench as the Nets overcame a sluggish first quarter and an injury to Cam Thomas en route to their first home win of the year, a 100-93 triumph over James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers in front of a sellout crowd of 17,933 happy customers.
Losers of their first three contests at Barclays and on the verge of absorbing an 0-3 homestand, the Nets (4-4) fell behind 21-13 after 12 minutes as the Clippers (3-4) finished the opening quarter on an 11-2 run.
“I think we were pretty stagnant at the beginning of the game just overall offensively, and that affected us on both ends of the floor,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn ceded.
Bloodied but unbowed, Brooklyn crawled back to pull within three at the half and rose to every challenge following intermission behind nine fourth-quarter points from back-up center Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker’s most necessary effort of the young campaign.
The 24-year-old shooting guard, who signed with the Nets this summer after spending his previous five NBA seasons in San Antonio and Los Angeles with the Lakers, hit half of his 16 field-goal attempts, including a trio of 3-pointers.
Walker leads Brooklyn’s “Bench Mob” with 15.5 points per contest and fell one shy of his best output as a reserve, a 22-point effort at Miami on Oct. 18.
“Just a lot of self-confidence,” Walker said of his early season surge off the bench. “Understanding my capabilities. I really put a lot of time and effort into the game. I sacrifice a lot of time and effort into the game. What you put in is what you’re going to get out of it.”
Thomas, who scored 14 points…
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