Sixers go final 10:37 without a basket in loss to Nets

PHILADELPHIA -- Vince Carter was out, a sprained ankle forcing him to New Jersey's bench.

What he saw was one grim collapse for the 76ers and an improbable win for the resilient Nets.

Brook Lopez had 24 points and 17 rebounds and his two-handed dunk with 16.8 seconds left gave New Jersey the lead and helped the Nets take advantage of Philadelphia's fourth-quarter meltdown to stun the 76ers 85-83 on Saturday night.

"That was great to see," Carter said.

This outcome was difficult to imagine when Carter left the game only 2 minutes into the fourth quarter and the Nets down 12.

Then came all the misses for Philadelphia, on its last 18 shots. The 76ers couldn't make a basket. Outside. Inside. From the wing, Beyond the arc. All they heard was clank, clank, clank. Then a lot of boos as the headed for the locker room.

Philadelphia went the final 10:37 without a basket and finished the fourth quarter 2-for-22.

"We went through a dry spell. We just could not score," Sixers coach Tony DiLeo said.

The Nets capitalized and got big baskets from everyone on the court to snap a three-game losing streak.

Jarvis Hayes and Devin Harris sank consecutive 3-pointers that pulled the Nets to 82-80 with 3:23 left. Thaddeus Young made one of two free throws to give Philadelphia a three-point lead.

Harris and then Lopez both got inside for the big baskets, leaving the Sixers with one last possession to try to tie.

Andre Miller drove down the baseline and had his attempt blocked by Trenton Hassell. The Sixers got the inbounds pass to Royal Ivey and his long-range jumper was swatted away by Harris.

Miller put his hand on his head in disbelief as the crowd of nearly 18,000 booed the Sixers off the court.

"I thought those guys showed huge fight and grit," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "It goes to show, when you play a little defense, you give yourself a chance."

Harris scored 17 points and the Nets won for only the second time in 10 games.

"Guys just started to attack the basket and we played well together," Lopez said.

Frank said before the game the Nets were playing like they were in a "fog," and needed a few wins to get a good feeling back in the locker room.

This kind of victory might do it as they continue to chase the eighth spot in the East.

"Our guys didn't hang their heads," he said.

They won it without Carter for most of the fourth. He limped toward the locker room twice in the second half and didn't return to the game after his second exit. Carter said the injury wasn't serious and he didn't expect to miss any games.

The Sixers used a 14-0 run late in the third quarter and appeared on the brink of winning for the 11th time in their last 13 games until they went cold from the floor. Miller finished with 19 points and Andre Iguodala had 18.

The Sixers showed signs of slumping from the floor in the third quarter when they scored only three baskets -- but one of them was Iguodala's 3-pointer that started the 14-0 run. They drove the lane, got fouled and made their baskets, going 6-for-9 from the from the free-throw line during the spurt. Young and Willie Green scored the other two buckets and they built just enough separation that the Nets never got within single digits until late in the fourth.

"We didn't do a good job of playing for 48 minutes and they did," Green said.

Samuel Dalembert played in his 236th straight game for the Sixers, a day after he sprained his left ankle. He scored only two points in 15 minutes.

Game notes
Nets forward Bobby Simmons left the game in the first half with a lower abdominal strain and did not return. ... Dalembert couldn't believe he was whistled for a 3-second violation as he lay on the court holding his ankle Friday. "Do you believe that? Do you believe that?" he said. "I'm like, 'you've got to be kidding me.'" Dalembert credited time in a hyperbaric chamber for the speedy recovery. He said he bought one about a year ago. ... Carter was hit with a technical foul in the third quarter. ... 76ers F Elton Brand came off the bench for the fifth straight game.