Mikal Bridges played through a hand injury Wednesday night and the Nets kept a big opportunity from slipping through their fingers.
Battling to avoid the play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Nets caught fire with four 3-pointers in the final three minutes to turn a five-point deficit into a 123-114 victory over the Rockets at Barclays Center.
Just like that, a potentially devastating loss in the easiest game on their late-season schedule became an impressive comeback win.
Cam Johnson erupted for 31 points and Bridges added 20.
That duo, who came over together from the Suns in the Kevin Durant trade, made back-to-back 3s to cut a seven-point deficit to one in a flash with 6:44 to go, but it still took the Nets another four minutes to jump in front.
Not surprisingly, it was Johnson’s next 3 that put the Nets ahead for good, 111-110, with just over two minutes remaining.
Bridges spent most of the final four-plus minutes of the first half flexing his left hand after he appeared to jam it in drawing a foul on a drive through the lane.
He went 1-for-2 from the field and 3-for-4 from the line after the injury.
Bridges emerged from the halftime locker room a couple of minutes before his teammates to shoot around and test his hand.
With the victory, the Nets increased their lead over the Heat — losers Wednesday across town to the Knicks — to 1 ¹/₂ games for the No. 6 seed in the East.
The teams seeded seventh through 10th must survive a mini-tournament to reach the best-of-seven first round.
After they lost six of their previous seven games, the Nets got right and snapped a four-game home losing streak by picking on the Rockets, who have lost seven straight and 10 of their last 13.
The Rockets (18-59) are the worst team in the Western Conference and have more wins than only the Pistons.
The Nets had 33 assists on 44 field goals, including 17 from 3-point range. Nine of those trifectas came in the fourth quarter.
Spencer Dinwiddie (20 points) and Nic Claxton (18) also had big games. Claxton recorded his team-high 26th double-double of the season, after totaling five in his first three seasons combined.
He leads all players across the league 23 years old or younger in points-rebounds combined double-doubles.
A back-and-forth first half featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties. Neither team led by more than five points.
When the Nets finally opened up a comfortable lead, 74-67 with 6:08 to go in the third quarter, the Rockets responded with a 13-2 run.
The Rockets maintained their one-point halftime lead through three quarters and took control by scoring 11 of the first 14 fourth-quarter points to open up their biggest lead to that point, 98-89.