Shorthanded Nets storm back to beat Warriors after star’s injury

SAN FRANCISCO — Already shorthanded, the Nets lost their hottest hand. But they refused to lose the battle.

Despite adding Cam Johnson to their walking-injured list, the Nets stormed back to a 128-120, come-from-behind victory at Golden State on Sunday before a sellout crowd of 18,064 at the Chase Center.

With Johnson forced out of the game with a sprained right ankle — and Nic Claxton, Dorian Finney-Smith, Ben Simmons and Noah Clowney already out — the Nets trailed by 18 in the third quarter. But they put together a 27-6 run over the next nine minutes to grab the lead and never relinquished it.

Dennis Schroder had 23 of his 31 points in the second half and added seven assists, five rebounds and much-needed leadership down the stretch.

“He took control of the game and took control of the lead. Put everyone in the right place at both ends of the floor. And that’s the kind of leadership, it’s like having a coach on the floor,” Jordi Fernandez said of Schroder. “And when those things happen, I just let him do his thing.”

Schroder accounted for 65.9 percent of the Nets’ points in the fourth quarter (17 points, four assists for 10 points created).

Jalen Wilson stepped up with a season-high 18 points in Johnson’s absence. And Ziaire Williams — forced to play center with the Nets’ frontcourt decimated — had 19 points, nine boards and four assists.

Cam Thomas scored 23 but conspicuously never came off the bench in the fourth quarter as the Nets (8-10) rallied for their second straight win.

“I ended up taking (Thomas) out because he made a mistake, he was tired and then he was ready to go and I felt like I didn’t feel it was right,” Fernandez said. “And I just wanted to protect him from himself.”

They went 20 of 45 from deep, matching their season high. But they squandered that shooting effort in a loss to Denver. This one they shut out.

Western Conference-leading Golden State fell to 12-5 and was left underwhelmed.

An injury situation that was already so dire that the 9-foot-9, 205-pound Williams was actually pushed to start at small-ball center just got exponentially worse.

Johnson averaged 19.1 points — and 27.3 over his last four — on a scorching .579 percent from deep. But he sprained his ankle falling on Draymond Green’s foot in the first quarter and appeared to be hobbled for the final 7:22 of the first half before sitting out the second.

But the Nets circled the wagons and won.

They trailed 86-68 with 7:13 left in the third quarter on a layup by Trayce Jackson-Davis. Fernandez immediately called a timeout to stem the tide. He ended up turning it around completely.

The Nets put together an extended 27-6 run over the next nine minutes spanning the fourth quarter.

Schroder – who had missed Sunday’s win and was questionable with a sore right ankle – came alive to lead the blitz. He tied it at 92-all on a 3-pointer off a Tyrese Martin feed with 11:10 left. And he hit a 27-footer off a Williams pass to end the run and give the Nets a 95-92 edge with 9:43 left.

They spent the rest of the evening delaying Golden State’s attempt to seize it.

“If you look at the second half, down 18, ended up winning the third and ended up winning the fourth,” Fernandez said. “So it was a complete team effort, in short. And those are great games.”