Mirza Teletovic scores career high 34 points in Nets' win over Mavs

There's no denying that the Nets have been the hottest team in basketball since the calendar flipped to 2014. With the Dallas Mavericks coming into town, Brooklyn looked to extend their record to 9-1 in the month of January. The Nets pulled off the close victory in a nail-biter and took down the eighth best team in the stacked Western Conference, 107-106. This was the Nets' seventh straight win at the Barclays Center.

Things got off to a slow start, as neither team could hit any shots. The difference was that the Mavs were being heavily guarded by the Nets, but Brooklyn was missing their wide-open shots. The Mavs held a 21-18 lead after the first quarter, but things took a huge turn from there.

It was truly a second quarter to remember for Mirza Teletovic. He found himself hitting any shot he took, no matter how ridiculous it was. He put up 24 points in the quarter alone, and that gave him a new career-high, which was previously 19. He wasn't finished there, though, as he finished the game with 34 points on 12/18 shooting, and 7/11 from behind the three point line. His 24 points led the Nets to a 39 point second quarter, which put the Nets up 57-46 at halftime.

Though things slowed down in the third quarter and Dallas started narrowing the margin, the Nets responded back in the fourth quarter with loads of energy on both sides of the ball. As the fouls continued to be called on each team, it began to be a fourth quarter defined by free throws. It went down to the wire, and things didn't look good when Paul Pierce missed two game-sealing free throws with eight seconds left. Dirk Nowitzki had a chance to make it a one point game, but he intentionally missed a free throw, which was rebounded by Andrei Kirilenko. Kirilenko went to the free throw line and sealed the deal himself, nailing both shots.

What we're continuing to see is Kevin Garnett finding the fountain of youth. He has shot over 70 percent from the field since the start of 2014, and continued the hot shooting tonight. He put up 10 points on 5/8 shooting, and almost all of his makes came from the mid-range area, somewhere he struggled to make his shots from earlier in the season. It also helps that he's rebounding as well, as he grabbed 11 tonight.

More good news for the Nets came from Deron Williams, who just recently came back from PRP treatment on his ankles. He put up 18 points on 5/8 shooting, and dished out 11 assists in 35 minutes. This is the D-Will we expected to see, and it looks like this will be two straight seasons of successful PRP.

Final Score: 107-106 NETS
Most Disappointing Stat of the Game: Joe Johnson five points
Promising Stat of the Game: Mirza Teletovic's 34 points on seven made three pointers.
Scariest Moment of the Game: Dallas cutting the Nets' lead to two late in the fourth quarter.
Best Moment of the Game: The #MirzaEffect being put on display in the second quarter.
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