NEW YORK -- There was a point when the Brooklyn Nets appeared on the verge of losing to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Nets' star center was in foul trouble and they were struggling to execute at times.

Then reserve forward Andrea Bargnani came to the rescue in a matchup of teams with the two worst records in the Eastern Conference.

While center Brook Lopez was saddled with foul trouble, Bargnani helped the Nets survive a challenge from the 76ers by scoring 13 of his season-high 23 points during the fourth quarter of a 100-91 victory Thursday night.

Bargnani returned from missing four games due to a tight left hamstring and equaled his most productive game as a reserve. Nearly nine years after getting 23 off the bench as a rookie for the Toronto Raptors against the Orlando Magic, he shot 8-of-15 from the floor and made four shots down the stretch as the Nets turned a 74-70 deficit into their seventh win and sent Philadelphia to its 22nd loss in 23 games.

"First of all it was a good win, in our situation we'll take every win," Bargnani said. "We were happy about it. We could have done a better job of being focused during the game. In the first half we did a great job staying focused but in the end we got the win so that's all that matters."

"It was a win we had to get," Lopez said. "We knew we had to come in and beat this team and we did."

Bargnani's two biggest shots came after the Nets appeared to be in the clear, taking a 90-80 lead on a 3-point by Lopez with 7:18 remaining. Nearly two minutes later, Lopez was on the bench with five fouls and the 76ers were within 90-85 on a 3-pointer by rookie guard T.J. McConnell.

In a span of 36 seconds, Bargnani converted two mid-range jumpers off inbounds passes by forward Joe Johnson, upping the lead to 96-87 with 3:16 remaining. The first shot came after Philadelphia rookie center Jahlil Okafor drove by him for a layup, capping a 7-2 run. The second came after Philadelphia guard Isaiah Canaan misfired on a 3-point attempt from the top of the key with 3:31 remaining.

"That was a great play, we drew that on the board and we executed good," Bargnani said. "I think that was a great job. We (wrote it) on the board and we were able to execute it perfectly on the floor."

Bargnani's biggest night as a Net came while Lopez was limited to 19 minutes and held to seven points. He led four in double figures for Brooklyn, which was in front by 16 early in the second quarter.

"He came in and he was huge," Brooklyn forward Thaddeus Young said.

Young, a former member of the 76ers, added 18 points and 11 rebounds. Reserve guard Shane Larkin contributed 14 points and six assists, and guard Bojan Bogdanovic added 10 points.

Okafor finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia. It was Okafor's seventh game with at least 20 points and sixth double-double.

"You can see with all the stuff that's been going on in his life, inevitably there is a weight on him," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. "I just feel like he played with a bounce tonight."

McConnell added a career-best 17 points, hitting three of four 3-pointers while the rest of the Sixers were a combined 1-for-27 from beyond the arc. Philadelphia's starting lineup was a combined 0-of-13 from 3-point range, and reserve guard Nik Stauskas missed all seven of his attempts.

"You have to sink some more of those at least," Philadelphia forward Nerlens Noel said. "If we get some defensive stops, I think we can win that game."

The Sixers shot 39.1 percent and turned in their lowest 3-point percentage since going 0-for-8 from behind the arc Nov. 24, 2014, against Portland. But they gave a significantly better effort they did in Monday's 119-68 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

NOTES: A report appeared in Forbes Magazine saying Philadelphia owner Josh Harris wants to sell the team and become one of the first owners of a NFL team in London. Before the game, a 76ers spokesman denied the report in a statement. "That is inaccurate. Josh has said repeatedly that he hopes to own the 76ers for many, many years and keep it in the family for many years." ... Brooklyn held Jewish Heritage night but issued an apology on its Twitter account for T-shirts containing a spelling error in Hebrew. ... G Tony Wroten made his first start since Jan. 3 and was limited to 16 minutes five days after returning from missing 10 1/2 months with a partially torn right ACL. ... Philadelphia's 4-of-31 showing from 3-point range was the worst by a Nets opponent with at least 30 attempts. Before Thursday, the fewest 3-pointers made a Nets opponent on at least 30 attempts was eight.