National Basketball Association

Lopez tips in with 0.4 seconds left in OT, Nets beat Nuggets

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:27 p.m. ET

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DENVER (AP) A month ago, it took a last-second shot for the Brooklyn Nets to pull out a win against the Denver Nuggets.

They were at it again in a rematch Friday night.

Brook Lopez rebounded Shane Larkin's missed shot and put back a layup with 0.4 seconds left in overtime, lifting the Nets over the Denver Nuggets 121-120.

''Shane made a great play,'' Lopez said. ''I just went to crash the basket. You never know. Things are going to get a little down and we came back up.''

Added coach Tony Brown: ''Huge play, huge game.''

The finish was reminiscent of the Nets' 105-104 win over the Nuggets on Feb. 8. Kenneth Faried made a go-ahead layup for the Nuggets with 1.4 seconds left, but they were overtaken by the Nets when Joe Johnson banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

''Both games, in Brooklyn and tonight, we were one stop away from getting a win and we were unable to do so,'' Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. ''I think it really started out in the first half. Our defense was awful. It was a joke how badly we defended. They hit nine 3s out of 13 tries. Second half was much better, but when are we going to learn our lesson? You cannot pick and choose when you are going to defend.''

Nikola Jokic missed badly on a backward desperation shot off an inbound pass as time expired, and the Nets beat the Nuggets for the fifth straight time.

Markel Brown had 21 points to lead the Nets. Lopez finished with 20 and Bojan Bogdanovic added 17 points. Bogdanovic made 2 of 3 free throws in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime.

''We never gave up,'' Lopez said. ''We went a little cold there towards the end of the fourth and in overtime, but we kept fighting. There was no quit in us.''

Emmanuel Mudiay had 25 points to lead the Nuggets. Gary Harris added 21 points and Faried had 17 points.

Trailing by six at the half, the Nuggets pulled in front 90-88 on Harris' fast-break layup with 23.8 seconds left in the third quarter. Brown hit a 17-foot jumper just before the third quarter buzzer sounded to tie it at 90.

The teams traded baskets and the lead through much of the fourth quarter.

Jokic made a short jumper in the lane to put the Nuggets up 104-103 with 3:40 left.

The Nets regained the lead 110-109 with 43.2 seconds remaining after Larkin hit a jumper and Brown scored on a fast-break layup set up by a Nuggets' turnover.

The Nets had a chance to score after the Nuggets turned the ball over again, but Thaddeus Young missed a layup under pressure with 12 seconds left and the Nuggets rebounded.

After a timeout, the ball was inbounded to Mudiay, and he drove the lane to knock down a layup and then made a free throw to complete a three-point play for a 112-110 lead with 5.1 seconds left in regulation.

The Nets tied it with 3.3 seconds left in regulation when Bogdanovic, fouled by Mudiay as he attempted a 3-pointer, made 2 of 3 free throws. Harris' long jumper at the buzzer rimmed out, sending the game into overtime.

Bogdanovic hit three 3-pointers in the first half when the Nets took a 63-57 lead.

TIP-INS

Nets: Two-thirds of the way through their club record long nine-game trip, the Nets are 3-3. ... Bogdanovic connected on three 3-pointers to boost his season total to 92, one more than he had as a rookie last season.

Nuggets: F Danilo Gallinari missed a third consecutive game with a right ankle sprain. ... With Gallinari expected to miss at least a month, the Nuggets bolstered their roster by signing F Axel Toupane to a 10-day contract.

UP NEXT

Nets: Complete road back-to-back Saturday at Minnesota

Nuggets: Host the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday