Jarrett Jack scores 23 as Nets again get well in Oklahoma

It looked as if the Nets were going to need a different Jedi mind trick this time.

They were mired in another disastrous start, creating a scenario eerily similar to what they faced the last two times they journeyed to the nation's heartland. On each of those occasions, they found ways to churn out season-turning victories in one of the NBA's most hostile road environments.

Given that they entered this one on a five-game losing streak, no wonder they were eager for a sense of deja vu against a team without injured stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

"Hopefully, that same thing will happen tonight," Deron Williams said after teaming with Jarrett Jack for a strong fourth quarter to propel the Nets to a skid-stopping 94-92 victory over the Thunder Friday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena. "Usually, we get smacked by San Antonio the night before, then we do it. So hopefully, we can change that as well. It's kind of a reverse trip, so hopefully that will fuel us."

That flight south to Texas surely felt much better than it would have if the Nets (5-7) hadn't got it going in the second half, when they transformed a four-point deficit into a 95-83 lead with 2:13 left. But even with Oklahoma City missing Westbrook and Durant, the Nets couldn't completely hold off the Thunder (3-11). A missed free throw by Joe Johnson, who took only five shots in 32:19, gave Oklahoma City one final gasp.

But a potential game-winning three-pointer by Reggie Jackson (21 points, eight assists) over the outstretched hands of Alan Anderson rattled around and bounced out at the buzzer.

"We came in here with the mind-set that we were going to win," said Brook Lopez, who posted his first regular-season double-double since April 9, 2013, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. "Even when we were behind, we stuck together and pushed through."

With the starters' legs apparently still somewhat weary from all those minutes logged in their triple-overtime loss to Jason Kidd's Bucks two days earlier, and knowing the Nets have a date Saturday night with the Spurs, Lionel Hollins turned to his bench.

The reserves ignited a 12-0 run spanning the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, giving the Nets a 76-74 lead as Williams, Johnson, Lopez and Kevin Garnett observed from the bench.

Hollins didn't deviate from that plan until he inserted Williams with 8:35 left and called on Johnson and Lopez to re-enter 42 seconds later with the Thunder leading 82-80.

"I thought we kind of had the teeter-totter thing going on a little bit," Jack said. "But we bent and we didn't break, and I thought that was the big thing for us."

Lopez's 6-footer with 7:03 left gave the Nets an 84-83 lead they never relinquished,

"A win is a win," Williams said. "At this point, any time you are on a losing streak like we were -- five straight -- a win is a win. It wasn't pretty . . . But it was a good one for us. We fought, we battled, we got stops when we needed it down the stretch."