Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Hours after owner Mikhail Prokhorov ended their long, drawn-out pursuit of Carmelo Anthony, the New Jersey Nets snapped a six-game losing streak with a 103-95 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.
Brook Lopez scored 11 of his 20 points in a big third quarter and the Nets seemed to relax with the trade talk over in winning for only the second time in 13 games.
Sasha Vujacic added 15 points, Devin Harris had 14 points and eight assists and Travis Outlaw had 13 points as New Jersey matched its season high with seven players in double figures.
#box
Al Jefferson had 21 points and eight rebounds and Deron Williams added 20 points and 10 assists for Utah, which lost its second straight.
Rookie forward Derrick Favors, the No. 3 pick in the draft who was mentioned prominently in the trade talks along with Harris, added 12 points and six rebounds for New Jersey.
The Nets seemingly took command in the third quarter with a 21-7 spurt that featured seven points by Lopez and six by Outlaw. A 3-pointer by Jordan Farmar, the fourth long-range shot in the run, stretched the lead to 71-57 late in the quarter.
Utah, which has rallied from a dozen double-digit deficits to win games this season, made a fourth-quarter run against the Nets, closing within 93-91 on a three-point play by Jefferson with 1:52 to play.
Lopez answered with a layup off Harris' feed at the 1:40 mark and Vujacic eventually stretched the margin to 97-91 with a layup with 30 seconds to go.
New Jersey iced the game at the free throw line.
The result was secondary to the pre-game drama.
After months of talks aimed at bringing Anthony from Denver to New Jersey, Prokhorov announced that the Nets were ending their drawn-out trade talks with the Nuggets.
Prokhorov said the deal had become too public, taken too long and had hurt his team, so he pulled the plug on the proposed deal that featured as many as 15 players.
"Really, I am not happy with the way the deal has gone until now," said Prokhorov, who fielded questions in English and Russian. "It has taken too long. It has been played out in public. The uncertainty has taken a toll on the players ... and I believe it has cost us several games."
Game notes
Ravens running back Ray Rice, TV reality star Kim Kardashian and rap mogul Jay-Z were at the game. ... This was an evening of Russian culture, and NHL hockey players Ilya Kovalchuk, Alex Ovechkin and Semyon Varlamov, Olympic gold medalist Kenny Krayzelburg (swimming) and Viktor Petrenko (figure skating) were on hand. ... Nets G Anthony Morrow, who has been sidelined since mid-December, expects to play Friday against Detroit.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
