The Nets appeared to be on their way to what would have been one of their most disappointing nights of the season and it turned into one of their best.

They had a full house and the Knicks weren’t in town. The fans were at Prudential Center to see Blake Griffin, so they wanted dunks, but they also wanted the Nets to win.

It was clear by the way they booed the Nets when they fell behind by 20 to the Clippers in the first half and then booed Griffin late in what turned into an exciting back-and-forth game, won by New Jersey, 102-98, in overtime.

In the end, the fans got everything they wanted. They got dunks early. The Clippers’ first five baskets were slams and two were from Griffin that created quite a buzz in The Rock.

In the end, the Nets got everything they wanted too – a big win in front of a big crowd and buzz at the end for them because of how hard they fought.

So what if the Nets had to work a little extra for their fourth consecutive win. That should be expected now. In the four wins, the Nets have played a total of four OTs. They won a spectacular triple-overtime game against the Raptors in London.

Many of them will say London was where they bonded and became more of a team. The arrival of Deron Williams had something to do with that, with their confidence and belief.

But it says something about the Nets that they’re winning right now with Williams in his home in Dallas to be with his family and brand new son.

“It just shows how much the team has bonded and how good our chemistry has become,” Brook Lopez said.

“Our confidence is there. This was one of those games where we were down but we were confident. We made it to overtime. We were confident there.”

These aren’t the Nets of a few months ago, let alone a few weeks ago.

They believe in themselves and believed they could come back in this game, even with their offense sputtering and without Williams. Nets coach Avery Johnson challenged them at halftime and they responded.

Jordan Farmar was the catalyst, scoring all 24 of his points after halftime. Lopez, once again, was tough inside, scoring 24 points. The two accounted for all of the Nets’ eight OT points.

Kris Humphries, once again, was huge. He had 19 points and a career-high 20 rebounds and played solid defense on Griffin. He still finished with 23 points, but aside from his eye-popping dunks he had to work for his points.

Humphries drew two consecutive charges on Griffin to set the tone in overtime. Griffin also missed a foul shot with 1.2 seconds left in regulation that could have won it for the Clippers.

“Fortunately we had a sellout crowd,” Johnson said. “The fans, boy, that’s as loud as I heard them this year. You’ve got to give them some credit for hopefully rattling the rims and making that free throw come out. Just overall a good night for us.”

It could have been a very bad night for the Nets, but they turned into a good night because of the belief they have in themselves now. Williams is a big reason, but it’s even more impressive that the Nets have it without him.

***

Coach’s Corner

“We’re a pretty gutsy team. We’ve been in two triple-overtime games this year. The guys just never really quit. I just told them I was really disappointed with what I was looking at in the first half. I didn’t have a smile on my face either. They rose to the challenge. Jordan hit big shots in the second half. What a second-half performance for him. He really came through. Brook was big for us down the stretch, demanding the ball, making strong moves. What more can you say about Humphries?”

- Johnson on the Nets’ resilience.

***

Follow me on Twitter: @Al_Iannazzone

***

Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)