It took 19 tries, but the Nets finally got into the win column on Friday night, beating the Charlotte Bobcats 97-91 at the Izod Center.
Second-year guard Courtney Lee scored a career-high 27 points to lead New Jersey.
The win was New Jersey’s first of the season, after an NBA-record eighteen straight losses to begin the year. The previous mark for futility was 0-17, shared by the expansion 1988-89 Miami Heat and the 1999 Los Angeles Clippers.
The win came in Kiki Vandeweghe’s debut as head coach. Vandeweghe replaces Lawrence Frank, who was let go when the Nets’ losing streak reached 16 games. Assistant coach Tom Barisse coached the team through losses 17 and 18.
Unfortunately for New Jersey’s remaining fans, Vandeweghe’s coaching record didn’t stay perfect for long. The Nets lost to the Knicks, 106-97, in Sunday’s game — Vandeweghe’s second as head coach — falling to 1-19 on the year.
Nets Get a W (Finally) originally appeared on About.com Basketball on Sunday, December 6th, 2009 at 23:56:04.
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