The new year continues to look like the start of something great for coach Jason Kidd and the Brooklyn Nets.

On Wednesday, Brooklyn won its fourth consecutive game defeating the Golden State Warriors 102-98 at the Barclays Center. The win for the Nets put an end to the Warriors’ 10-game winning streak. Brooklyn now 4-0 since the beginning of the new year and are playing the type of basketball Coach Kidd has been looking for out of his charges.

“We played for 48 minutes both offensively and defensively and that’s what has helped us win these games of late,” Kidd said. “It’s Paul

[Pierce], Joe [Johnson], Shaun and we even played to the young fella KG [Kevin Garnett] today down the stretch. He had some great looks on the turnaround jump shots when we were struggling offensively. He picked us up. But it’s a team effort and that’s the way these guys have been playing since Oklahoma — as a team. Each time they’ve taken the floor they’ve gotten better.”

Garnett finished with 13 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter as the Nets came back from a deficit that was as high as 16 early in the game. After the game, Coach Kidd said that his 37-year-old forward has looked in recent days like he found the fountain of youth over the holidays. That was especially true in Wednesday’s closing minutes.

“Offensively and defensively he’s been off the charts,” Jason said. “Defensively he’s been incredible for us since that Oklahoma game. He looks like he’s 25. Tonight, offensively, he looked like he was 21.”

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Garnett said that time has given him a better understanding of his role and what’s expected of him in Brooklyn. He also noted that it’s no coincidence that the Nets have picked up their play since a new calendar began.

“Going into 2014, the new year, we said we obviously wanted to change this thing and I think effort-wise, our performance, we haven’t just been talking about it but coming out and giving a valiant effort and tonight I just followed the effort,” Garnett said. “I’m understanding more and more of what Jason needs out of me.”

After consecutive wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks, the Nets came into Wednesday’s showdown with Golden State with some momentum. However that was quickly stifled by the Warriors, who shot 62 percent from the field and established a double-digit lead in the first quarter.

Golden State had their lead as high as 16 with 1:43 left in the first. But back-to-back threes by Joe Johnson and Mirza Teletovic in the final 30 seconds of the half cut Brooklyn’s deficit back to just 10 at the first quarter buzzer, an important distinction.

“Right off the bat they came out and had a 32-point third quarter. Normally we could’ve gone the other way, but we felt that we got some great looks that didn’t go down for us,” Coach Kidd. “In 2014, we’ve been doing that. The guys just kept playing.”

The Nets used the modicum of momentum gained at the end of the first quarter to put together one of their best periods of the season in the second. Eight different Nets players scored in the 12-minute frame before halftime and as a group Brooklyn shot 66.7 percent from the field on the way to 37 second quarter points.

On the other end, the Nets locked down defensively, limiting Golden to 41.2 percent shooting and just 20 points in the second. The combination led to a seven-point halftime lead for the Nets.

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Brooklyn maintained that lead out of the break and even pushed it to 11 midway through the third quarter. But in the closing minutes of the frame, the team’s third quarter woes reemerged. After a dunk by Shaun Livingston put the Nets up 11 with 6:46 left in the quarter, they did not make another shot from the field in the third. However, Brooklyn did manage some free throws and their defense did enough to keep them in the game, down by just one at the start of the fourth.

That’s when Garnett took over. The 15-time All-Star scored five points in the first 51 seconds of the fourth to get the Nets a two-point lead. Later he would hit an eight-foot turnaround jumper and a 13-foot step-back jumper on consecutive trips, each breaking a tie between the two teams.

“J called some plays for me,” Garnett said of his coach. “I work on my craft every day, so I expect it to be a certain way when I go dial it up; I want her to pick the phone up. Tonight, I dialed and she was right there, answering, like she’s supposed to do. It was nice to be able to get into a nice little groove and some shots fell.”

Garnett’s individual run one was followed by one from Joe Johnson, who tallied 10 points in the fourth on the way to a 27-point night. Despite the efforts of both men, the Nets found themselves down four with under four minutes to go in the game. But from there, the Brooklyn defense locked down keeping Golden State off the board for nearly the entire four-minute stretch to end the game.

Afterward, Coach Kidd pointed to the communication, effort and trust amongst his players as reasons why the team is finding success defensively.

“It’s been team defense. KG shows on Steph [Curry] to get a steal. We’ve asked Shaun to guard everyone and he’s responded. We’ve asked Paul to guard the power forwards and he hasn’t complained,” Jason said. “So it’s been a team effort.”

As the defense held tight, the Nets got aggressive on the offensive end, drew several fouls pulled ahead for good, Andray Blatche followed two free throws by Johnson with a jumper to tie the game at 93-93 with 2:26 left. A free throw by Livingston with 1:12 left gave the Nets the lead and four makes at the line by Johnson on consecutive trips pushed the lead to five.

Golden State got some late life when Livingston fouled Steph Curry on a three with 9.1 seconds left, allowing the Warriors star to cut the deficit to two at the foul line. But Garnett and Johnson each sunk a pair at the line in the final nine seconds to secure the win.

NEXT UP

The Nets will have a chance to put a bow on a 4-0 homestand and extend their New Year win streak to five on Friday night, but it will be a challenge to do so as they host the two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat at Barclays Center.

When last the two teams met, the new season was still fresh and the Nets picked up a signature win 101-100 in just the second game of the season on November 1st. Since then, the Nets have scuffled to a 13-20 mark while Miami has proven to still be one of the league’s best teams, winning 26 of their 32 games since that loss.

But after proving they could beat the Heat early in the season, Brooklyn relishes the chance to end this homestand on the highest of notes.

“We want to just continue to finish off this homestand and that’s the last team [and] the best team in the NBA in my opinion until somebody knocks them off,” Paul Pierce said. “It’s another challenge for us. We’ve just got to stay humble, keep building on what we are doing right now and continue to defend.”

Tip-off of Friday night’s game is slated for 8 p.m. ET and the game can be seen locally on YES and nationally on ESPN.

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