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| A rare pic from the completely unbroadcasted game (via NetsDaily.com). Wouldn’t you think that a team’s 1st game ever would get covered by the TV station they earn a lot of money for (that being the YES Network)? |
I’ll keep the debut (preseason) game recap of the year short because all my knowledge of tonight’s win is derived from ESPN’s box score and tweets from writers/bloggers who were at the game. Supposedly, the Nets’ starters did extremely well as they outscored the 76ers by a score of 58-37 in the 1st and 3rd quarters combined (those are the quarters in which the starting-five were together on the floor the most). Each of the Nets’ starters (other than Kris Humphries for unknown reasons) played at least 26 minutes with every one of those 26-minutes+ players showcasing extremely solid statlines. However, the most important stat of note from the game was Brook Lopez’ nine rebounds.
So after most of the starters came out after the 3rd quarter ended, the Nets held a pretty comfortable 79-64 lead. Then, in the 4th quarter, the worst happened. The Nets bench couldn’t really score (16 points in the 4th on 6-18 shooting) and didn’t play much defense either (gave up 31 points on 9-15 shooting). You do the math, and that leads to a dead-tie after the period, with both the Nets and the 76ers at 95 points apiece. You ask what the worst thing to happen in a preseason game other than an injury is? Overtime.
Well, in the extra five-minute overtime session, the Nets’ reserves outscored the Philly reserves 13-10, leading to a final of 108-105, in Brooklyn’s favor of course. An Andray Blatche jumper with 27 ticks remaining put the Nets up 106-105, and C.J. Watson finished off the scoring with a few free throws after a missed Nick Young jumper. Young also missed a three-pointer with 2 seconds left to seal the 76ers’ fate and to give the Nets the 1st win in Brooklyn Nets’ history.
To finish up, it seemed like a very well-rounded Nets performance, save for the fact that the bench blew a 15-point lead in just 12 minutes. Another smudge on the well-played game was Mirza Teletovic’s terrible American basketball debut, as the big Bosnian only scored 6 points on awful 2-13 (2-11 from three) shooting. I’ll chalk that one up to nerves. So overall, a very debut for Brooklyn’s new home team.
Looking Ahead
The Nets open up the Barclays Center to basketball on Monday night in their 1st ever home game in Brooklyn against the Washington Wizards. I’ll be there, and I’m certainly looking forward to it, and then some.
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