Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young lead Nets to first victory at Barclays Center this season

There was more than once when it felt as if the Nets were destined for another numbing defeat, especially when they trailed by a point heading into the final minute.

They weren't playing inspired ball, lethargically throwing the ball away and maddeningly failing to capitalize on many of the Hawks' season-high 23 turnovers. But all it did was provide them with the platform to cure one of the main ills of their early-season swoon: effectively close out a game.

Thaddeus Young sank the winning free throws with 1.4 seconds left, then deflected an intended inbounds pass for Al Horford to foil the Hawks' potential last-second, game-tying shot attempt and secure the Nets' 90-88 win at Barclays Center Tuesday night, their first home win this season.

Unlike how things went down in defeats to the defending champion Warriors and Kings during the weekend, when they went belly-up in the waning moments, the Nets (2-9) never lost their poise against the shorthanded Hawks.

"It's a big difference between two games," Nets coach Lionel Hollins said. "[Saturday in Oakland] we had three opportunities to execute and we didn't. Tonight, we had three opportunities and we did and we came out a winner."

Atlanta (8-5) didn't have the services of Jeff Teague or Kent Bazemore, both of whom sat out with ankle sprains, as the Nets' inability to take advantage of a drop-off in talent continued.

The frantic final 60 seconds had many in the smallish crowd of 12,241 standing, particularly when Dennis Schroder missed a floater in the lane with 10.6 seconds left as the shot clock was about to expire. Brook Lopez (24 points, 10 rebounds) blocked Paul Millsap's putback and Young collected the rebound with 6.7 seconds left, passing it to Joe Johnson.

Hollins didn't call a timeout because the Nets had numbers on a fast break and Johnson pushed the ball up the floor, finding a cutting Young as he motored toward the basket. Young got fouled by Kyle Korver with 1.4 seconds left crashing hard to the floor.

He dusted himself off and swished both free throws to put the Nets up by two. Atlanta still had a chance and Young thwarted that by getting his hand on Thabo Sefolosha's inbounds pass to Horford. The ball trickled away as the clock hit triple zeros, sealing the win.

"We made plays down the stretch as a team," Young said. "Brook had a few blocks. Jarrett [Jack] knocked down a big shot. Joe made a great play driving into the lane. So we had a lot of guys add to this win."

They made it much more difficult than it had to be, however, and it stemmed from not building momentum in the first half despite the Hawks' 12 turnovers. The Nets had 10 turnovers themselves, which had them continuously jockeying for the lead until the final anxious moments.

"It's nerve-wracking," Jack said. "You would love when you have a four- or six-point lead to extend it and kind of walk away with the game handily. But it helps you in the long run. When you get to these crunch-time moments, it's not going to be your first time seeing them. We are going to be a battle-tested bunch, which we've been so far in this early part of the season. I think it can only be beneficial for us. But hopefully, we can start extending these leads in the fourth quarter and be able to walk away with these things."