Ben Simmons, Cam Johnson spark Nets in impressive win over Pacers

The loud celebrations in the Nets locker room weren’t just over breaking their season-long losing skid. They were over breaking narratives as well.

Brooklyn smothered Indiana, 99-90, to snap a three-game slide before 16,748 at Barclays Center.

Then the Nets celebrated the latest victory that shocked their doubters.

“Just the grind,” Ben Simmons said. “I mean, they have us having 19 wins for the season, that’s a little bit of motivation. We come in here and we celebrate each win, but now it’s to the next game. So we get a day off and we’ll get back in the gym and get to practice and continue to build.”

“From our perspective, we’ve all heard the noise,” Cam Johnson said. “Our preseason expectations, we get constantly reminded of them, especially when you’re going through the media days and stuff. So every win to us is just hard-fought and appreciated across the board. And that’s the culture we’re trying to create and build.”

The Nets got back Johnson (game-high 26 points, 7-for-13 from deep) and Simmons (nine assists, seven points, seven rebounds, three blocks), both of whom had missed the last game.

They got a season-high 16 points from Nic Claxton and 15 from Shake Milton off the bench.

But what they really got was tough defense, holding the Pacers to 42.7 percent shooting and just 8-for-33 from behind the arc.

They protected the rim, allowing just 15 attempts in the restricted area.

“Fly around and pressure the ball. Guys across the roster did a great job flying around, pressuring the ball, making it difficult,” Johnson said. “I gotta give credit where credit is due to everybody who stepped up today and holding them to 90 points has been big for us, stepping up on the defensive end. So, it was a really good effort.”

The Nets led by as much as 21 before giving that away, caught in an 80-all tie in the fourth quarter.

They broke that tie with a 10-0 run that decided the game, led by Simmons, Milton and the bench unit.

“Composure and just getting back to the principles,” Simmons said. “Good defense is gonna lead to good offense. We get to play with some pace, and then running. One of the things that I tell our guys is don’t run with me, because I see the game a little bit faster and I see guys that are open when they probably don’t think they’re open. So it’s just trusting that running because it creates opportunities.”

Said Johnson: “Yeah, man, that group was flying around. And then they were pushing the pace on the other hand. And that’s disheartening from an opponent standpoint. We just kept pushing the tempo. And Shake, Jalen [Wilson], Ben, Day’Ron [Sharpe], great effort to get 80-80 to 90-80. That’s the game right there. And man, big shout out to those guys.”

Down 11-10 after ex-Knick Obi Toppin’s 3-pointer with 5:22 left in the first, the Nets put together an extended 27-9 run that spanned the periods.

By the time Claxton threw down an alley-oop with 8:35 remaining in the half, the Nets had seized a 37-20 lead.

They padded that cushion to 46-25 when Milton found Johnson for a 3-pointer midway through the second quarter.

The Nets never lost that lead, although they watched it get whittled away for the rest of the evening.

They were outscored 18-5 run in a five-minute span from the end of the third to the start of the fourth.

TJ McConnell’s layup pulled Indiana within three, and Dennis Schroder’s turnover on the next possession handed Toppin a breakaway dunk to slice it to 77-76 with 9:15 to play.

Johnson finally broke the drought with a 3-pointer.

Pascal Siakam hit a midrange jumper, and after Trendon Watford missed a 3, he fouled Siakam to hand him the tying free throws with 8:06 left.

But knotted at 80-all, Simmons untied it, throwing down an alley-oop from Milton.

Then Watford sandwiched four free throws around a Wilson drive, pushing the lead to eight.

Simmons found Wilson for another drive to send Indiana into a timeout and the Nets to a 90-80 lead with 5:48 to play.

This one they held.