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

SAN FRANCISCO — Already shorthanded, the Nets lost their H๏τtest hand. But they refused to lose the game.

Despite adding Cam Johnson to their list of walking wounded, the Nets stormed back for a 128-120, come-from-behind win at Golden State on Sunday before a sellout crowd of 18,064 at 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 sidelined — the Nets trailed by 18 in the third quarter. But they put together a 27-6 run over the next nine minutes to seize the lead, and never gave it up.

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

“He took control of the game and took control of the lead. Put everybody in the right place on 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 ᴀssists 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 ᴀssists.

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

“I ended up taking [Thomas] out because he took a foul, he was tired, and then he was available 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 wasted that shooting effort in a loss to Denver. This one, they closed out.

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

An injury situation already so dire that the 6-foot-9, 205-pound Williams was actually pressed into starting at small-ball center just got exponentially worse.

Johnson came in averaging 19.1 points — and 27.3 over his last four on scalding .579 percent from deep. But he sprained his ankle coming down on Draymond Green’s foot in the first quarter, and seemed 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 altogether.

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

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