NEW YORK -- Neither Shaun Livingston nor the Nets were expecting to see the backup point guard playing this many minutes in his first season in Brooklyn. On a team dealing with a rash of injuries all season, Livingston has been one of the key figures in the Nets revival after a dismal start. Starting alongside Deron Williams with All-Star guard Joe Johnson sidelined, Livingstons seventh steal of the night with 5.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter helped sealed Brooklyns win 108-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night. "Ive been on the wings obviously guarding some of the better scorers, but just trying to be active, be disruptive and help my teammates," said Livingston, who also had 13 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Paul Pierce scored 25 points and Deron Williams added 21 for the Nets, who stopped a three-game losing streak. The Nets saw their first big lead of the night, a 15-point advantage, go to waste in the first half as Philadelphia managed to take a 44-37 late in the second quarter before Brooklyn answered back with a 17-5 run to head into the half with a 54-49 lead. Brooklyn then seemed like it was about to run away with the game with a strong start to the third quarter, relying on its defence to force some key turnovers. After a bad pass turnover by Philadelphias Tony Wroten, Livingston found Williams for a 3-pointer that made it 78-59 with 4:21. Trailing 84-69 to start the fourth quarter, the 76ers made nine of 10 shots and James Andersons 3-pointer made it 104-102 with 22 seconds left. Pierce, who made all 14 free throws, hit a pair after Michael Carter-Williams fouled him to increase Brooklyns lead to 106-102 and Livingston sealed the victory by intercepting Carter-Williams pass, Philadelphias 26th turnover of the night, and converting a pair of free throws to put it away. Livingston has come a long way since that awful knee injury almost seven years ago as a 21-year-old with the Los Angeles Clippers. In 45 games for the Nets, the 6-foot-7 point guard has averaged 7.8 points and 3.1 assists over 24.6 minutes. As a starter, hes logged 29.2 minutes in 23 games, posting 9.4 points, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game, showing flashes of the player that was supposed to be part of the Clippers future before his injury. "Honestly, Im not trying to jinx it and think about it. Its a situation where I know where Ive come from, mentally as well," Livingston said, adding that hes leaned on Kevin Garnett on how to manage his body. "I just want to continue my same confidence, continue to play with the same confidence and I give credit to (Nets coach) Jason (Kidd) as well because I talk to him every day. Just getting a chance to pick his brain gives me confidence and to see the confidence that he has in me as well." The Nets had lost to division leaders Toronto, Oklahoma City and Indiana after starting 2014 by winning 10 of their first 11 games, but got back on track against a Philadelphia team that has lost 13 of its last 16 games. Carter-Williams scored 21 points for the 76ers, who have lost three straight. Wroten had 18 off the bench and Thaddeus Young added 17. The Nets scored 32 points off Philadelphia turnovers. "I think we had some careless turnovers. We tried to force some shots that led to turnovers," Carter-Williams said. 76ers coach Brett Brown wished his team could have kept those mistakes down like they did in the final quarter, when they had just two turnovers. "Isnt that amazing? You actually get to shoot and have a chance to score," the first-year coach said. Mirza Teletovic had 20 points off the bench, hitting 5 of 9 3-pointers. Johnson was held out of the game due to tendinitis in his right knee. The Nets were also without reserve forwards Andrei Kirilenko, who missed his last three games with a sore right calf, and Andray Blatche, who was out with a sore hip. NOTES: Former team minority owner and rapper Jay-Z and his wife, Beyonce, took in the game, sitting next to Russell Wilson, quarterback of the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. . Brooklyns 15 steals were a season-high. . Garnett recorded five blocks, making him the 18th player in NBA history with 2,000 career blocks. Patrick Kane Jersey . Catch the action live on TSN2 at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Wild lead the Northwest Division and look to get back into the win column after having a season-high seven-game winning streak cut short with Tuesdays 2-1 loss at Winnipeg in the finale of a five-game road trip (4-1-0). CM Punk Jersey .twitter.com/TeZD3KOvlA — Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) September 24, 2014 Sorry for the delay, we just got back from lunch at Papa Vons #NBAFastFood pic. http://www.officialblackhawksfanstore.com/customized/ . Still, Milan remained five points behind city rival Inter Milan in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League berth, after Inter beat 10-man Parma 2-0. Meanwhile, Paul Pogba led the way as Juventus stayed on course for a third consecutive title with a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Bologna. Glenn Hall Jersey . Bozak and Clarkson suffered the injuries in pre-training camp workouts, according to Carlyle, who said they made "small amounts of improvement" from Friday to Saturday. After the players were deemed less than 100 per cent by doctors after Thursdays medical testing, the Leafs held them out of on-ice testing and are being cautious. Clark Griswold Jersey . - Rookie Tesho Akindele scored three goals and Fabian Castillo added two in FC Dallas 5-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night. SEATTLE -- Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma added to his dominant streak against the AL Central. The All-Star right-hander struck out seven and walked none in eight innings to run his scoreless streak against division teams to 48 2-3 innings in the Mariners 1-0 win over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night. It is the second-longest streak by any pitcher against one division dating to 1974. Orel Hershiser tossed 55 straight scoreless innings against NL West opponents in 1988. "Hes got a good two-seamer and his split was pretty much unhittable today," Kansas Citys Billy Butler said. "He was mixing a slider in there and had all three pitches working at any time. He was throwing them all for strikes." Iwakuma (2-0) scattered four singles and allowed only one baserunner to reach second in his second start of the season. Iwakuma, who began the year on the disabled list with a strained tendon on the middle finger of his pitching hand, bolsters a strong pitching staff that has helped the team win 11 times in the last 14 games since losing eight straight from April 15-22. "Hes getting better each and every time out," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "I think if you asked him, theres a lot more in there. Theres a lot of room for improvement, but that just goes to show how good he really is." Despite limiting the Mariners to just two hits and one run in six-plus innings, Danny Duffy (1-3) was the hard-luck loser for Kansas City. He has allowed two hits and a run in each of his first two starts this season after pitching out of the bullpen to begin the year. Both times he has been stuck with the loss. The Mariners pushed across the lone run in the third. Mike Zunino led off with a double for Seattles first hit and moved to third on a sacrrifice bunt.dddddddddddd After a strikeout, Duffy intentionally walked Robinson Cano. Corey Hart followed with a run-scoring single up the middle that proved to be the difference. Seattle hitters have driven in runs three out of the six times opposing teams have intentionally walked Cano this season. "Offense didnt win the game, Kuma obviously was dominant," Hart said. "Any time a pitcher throws like that, you try to scrap any run you can get across, and one was enough. A guy throws like that, you hate to lose." Kansas City managed just four singles and advanced a runner to second base only once during the first eight innings. The Royals had their best opportunity to score in the ninth when Fernando Rodney walked two, but the closer struck out Butler and induced a game-ending groundout. Rodneys 10th save in 11 chances kept the Royals off the board for the 27th straight inning, a streak that dates to September 2013. "Our guys are grinders," McClendon said. "I think theyve proven that they know how to get back up off the mat, so to speak. This has been a tough month and a half for us in a lot of different ways, but I think when its all said and done, maybe were not as bad as people thought we were going to be." NOTES: Seattle LHP James Paxton, on the DL with a strained left lat muscle, played catch and is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Friday. ... Mariners RHP Taijuan Walker is scheduled to toss in the bullpen Sunday after playing catch on Thursday. Walker is on the 15-day DL with right shoulder inflammation. ... Royals 2B Omar Infante was not in the lineup for the second consecutive day due to back spasms. Manager Ned Yost said the team doesnt think Infante will have to go on the DL. Infante is day to day. ' ' '