CHARLOTTE -- Playing without two of their injured big men, center Brook Lopez and power forward Kevin Garnett, the Brooklyn Nets relied heavily on their outside shooting.
The ploy yielded huge dividends on Saturday night as the Nets rained 16 triples at the Time Warner Cable Arena to beat the host Charlotte Hornets, 114-87.
Joe Johnson led Brooklyn's scoring parade with four triples and 23 points. Deron Williams orchestrated the offense with 18 and 10 assists while Alan Anderson chipped in 17. Jarrett Jack added 14 off the bench.
The Nets made a blistering 42 of 72 shots for a high 58.3 percent. And they missed just seven of their 23 attempts from 3-point range.
"The way our offense is set up we don't want anyone getting into the paint. If you don't get beaten, then we want to have another man there (to help) at all times," Hornets Gerald Henderson told the Charlotte Observer. He said their defensive scheme is open to "kick-outs and throwback passes."
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 15 points for the Hornets, who struggled mightily from the field and made only 31 of their 79 shots, a tepid 39.2 percent. Al Jefferson was held to eight points while the usually explosive Kemba Walker missed eight of 11 field goals and settled with just a meager 11 points.
With their second consecutive victory, the Nets climbed to 8th place in the Eastern Conference with a 10-12 record. The Hornets, who lost their second straight, fell to 6-17.
Photo: Joe Johnson lit the Time Warner Cable Arena on fire with 23 points on Saturday night as the visiting Brooklyn Nets blew out the Hornets, 114-87.
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