EAST RUTHERFORD ? The New Jersey Nets snapped the worst season-opening losing streak in NBA history, defeating the Charlotte Bobcats 97-91 on Friday to end their dubious record at 18 losses in a row.

Brook Lopez scored a game-high 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while Courtney Lee added 27 points as the Nets finally won a game more than five weeks after the season began.

Kiki Vandeweghe, the team general manager who took over as coach for the fired Lawrence Frank on Thursday, guided the Nets to victory in his first game as a head coach.

Del Harris, an NBA veteran coach who guided China's 2004 Olympic squad, was brought in as an assistant. The combination proved to be a winner ? at last.

Devin Harris added 16 points for the Nets, who lost to Dallas on Wednesday to move past the previous all-time worst start in NBA history set by the 1988-89 Miami Heat and matched by the 1999 Los Angeles Clippers.

Raymond Felton and Stephen Jackson each scored 28 points to spark the Charlotte, which led 51-47 at half-time and 69-68 entering the fourth quarter only to be outscored by seven points over the last 12 minutes.

The Nets bid for NBA infamy was halted five games shy of the league's all-time record losing streak and three games shy of the Baltimore Orioles' 21-game Major League Baseball losing streak to open a season, the worst in US sport history.