NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets are not anybody's idea of a defensive juggernaut.

Based on how the final seven-plus minutes of the fourth quarter unfolded Wednesday, they were for one night.

Brook Lopez scored eight of his 20 points in the final seven minutes and the Nets held the Los Angeles Lakers to one basket down the stretch and recorded a 107-97 victory.

The Nets won for the third time in 12 games by achieving numerous things defensively in the most pivotal part of an ugly display by both teams at times. Brooklyn came into the game last in the league in points allowed (115.2) and toward the bottom in the league in many other defensive categories but held a team under 100 points for only the third time this season as they limited the Lakers to 21 points in the fourth quarter and held a 17-7 rebounding edge in the final 12 minutes and 61-49 overall.

"I really liked our defense in the fourth quarter," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. "I think if we're going to take a step, that's where we need to take a step, defensively. I was very pleased. I thought first half, we lost in transition a bunch. I thought we did a much job in transition defense and I felt like at the end we rebounded better."

Los Angeles scored 16 of those points in the first 4:18 and took a 92-91 lead on a hook shot by Larry Nance Jr. The Nets took the lead for good on a tip-in by Luis Scola with 7:15 left and began surging ahead when Lopez had three straight layups in a span of 89 seconds.

"I think we just stayed together and kept our concentration and focus," Lopez said. "There were lots of ups and downs. We weren't at our best the entirety of the game but we fought through it."

Those hoops pushed a slim 93-92 lead to 99-94 with 5:17 remaining and Los Angeles was in the midst of missing 13 of its final 14 shots. Los Angeles' only made basket in that stretch was a Lou Williams' layup with 6:18 remaining after Lopez's first basket.

"I thought we had a ton of good looks that just didn't go in tonight and I thought we struggled from that point once guys were missing good looks," Lakers coach Luke Walton said after his team shot 38.5 percent, missed 21 of 27 3-pointers and 13 free throws in its eighth straight loss.

The latest poor performance by Los Angeles resulted in Walton raising his voice in his postgame address to the team and calling them "mentally soft."

"He got his point across today," Lakers guard Nick Young said. "We just got to somehow pull that first win out and then get used to winning again. Just mentally being soft and calling us out. And you got to step up to the plate."

The lead reached 102-94 on a 3-pointer by Joe Harris with 4:47 left and the Nets never let it slip below six points the rest of the way.

While defense and Lopez's timely hoops helped the Nets win, others contributed on a night when Brooklyn shot 38.4 percent.

Bojan Bogdanovic led the Nets with 23 points and helped the Nets keep pace early in the fourth. Sean Kilpatrick added 22 while Trevor Booker pulled down a season-high 18 rebounds.

"When we play well on the defensive end, that leads us to many easy points on the fast break," Bogdanovic said. "So we showed tonight that we can play defense."

Williams led the Lakers with 16 points, Young added 14 while Timofey Mozgov and Jordan Clarkson had 12 apiece. D'Angelo Russell was held to 11 points and shot 2 of 10 in his third game back from a sore knee.

Before Lopez made plays in the final seven minutes, the Nets blew a nine-point halftime lead. The Lakers appeared to be poised to pull away by taking a 70-65 lead on a 3-pointer by Young but settled for a 76-75 edge after three quarters following a Williams fadeaway.

NOTES: G Jeremy Lin (lower back tightness) was a game-time decision, and about an hour before the opening tip, the Nets ruled him out. After the game, Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said he was unsure of how it happened and if Lin would play Friday in Orlando. ... Lakers coach Luke Walton said he was told by the team's training staff that F Nick Young does not need his minutes restricted any longer. Young played 30 minutes Wednesday. ... Walton was fined $15,000 for verbally abusing a game official and not leaving the court in a timely manner after his ejection in the first quarter of Monday's loss at Sacramento. "That's their decision," Walton said. ... Los Angeles F/C Tarik Black (sprained right ankle) and G Jose Calderon (strained right hamstring) did not play but might practice Thursday. ... Nets C Justin Hamilton was available after missing Monday's game in Houston with a migraine. He did not get off the bench Wednesday, however.