You know that let-down you half expected from a Nets team that has won its last two games in physically draining ways? Well, it never happened tonight at the Barclays Center against the Kings in an easy Brooklyn romp over a Sacramento team that seemed ridiculously disinterested in playing any form of defense in the slightest. The Nets dropped 36 points in the first quarter, establishing a five-point lead that they would just keep adding to throughout the rest of the game, keeping it around 20 points for a good portion of the game. Without Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton, due to injury, the Kings looked absolutely depleted, outside of DeMarcus Cousins and his 28-point, 11-rebound effort.
What I saw tonight was a Sacramento squad that didn't have much interest in winning against the Nets after a tight first quarter. It also didn't help them that Brooklyn came out of the locker room on a clear mission to beat an awful team and succeeded in that mission, hitting nearly every shot in sight with stunning accuracy. Six Nets scored 14 or more points as the entire team combined to shoot a solid 51.8 percent that would be good enough to win most NBA games. Whether it was Brook Lopez and his 18 points (on 7-12 shooting) or Mirza Teletovic and his 14 points (on 5-10 shooting) or even D-Will and his 15 points (on 5-8 shooting), the Nets got great production from basically their entire healthy roster against the hapless Kings, an effort which brought Brooklyn to four games over .500 on the season.
Even though the Nets starters played great, it was the bench that changed this game from classic "Nets almost losing to bad team at home status" to "seemingly routine and gory domination of bad team at home status". Mirza Teletovic and MarShon Brooks, getting some of their best playing time stretches of the season, played with extreme confidence against the porous Sacramento defense and hit basically everything they put up towards the basket (missing most of their shots in the fourth quarter, not the second). Also, the reserves were boosted by a surprise return from C.J. Watson and from the usual Andray Blatche array of off-balance, lucky, and just plain weird shots that find unique and interesting ways to fall through the basket.
Even with the usual third quarter plunge the Nets undergo–which tonight, saw their lead cut to 13 at one point–Brooklyn was able to regroup and stave off the sometimes-feisty Kings instead of completely fall apart like they did versus the Timberwolves earlier this year in a similar situation. Sure, it was the Kings, but sometimes it's the result that counts, not the opponent it was obtained against. Sacramento, frankly, is awful, but the fact that the Nets were able to hold them off after a late run in order to seal off a win shows a lot about this team and how much it has changed since Avery Johnson was relieved of his duties.
Some other observations I had from the game: Once again, the Big Three was just about as good as P.J. Carlesimo could have asked them to be. Each scored at least 15 points on decent shooting percentages, played within themselves fully, only committed one turnover apiece, and played passable defense. Brook only played 16 minutes due to a mix of foul trouble of rest but keep his jumper flowing, and oh boy how has it flowed recently. Every time he shoots a mid-range jumper now, I expect it to swish in perfectly, a far cry from Brook from earlier this season. Joe continued mixing his face-up contested jumpers and unstoppable paint-drives for floaters perfectly. Also, D-Will didn't shoot great but lead the offense well, dishing out seven assists and grabbing six rebounds to help the winning effort…..Reggie Evans nabbed 12 rebounds, and scored eight points. Just gravy…..Gerald Wallace stuffed a fastbreak Aaron Brooks layup in a beautiful way in the second quarter after committing the turnover leading to the fastbreak. Of course, the block led to a MarShon Brooks jumper. I love Gerald Wallace…..I mentioned this before, but MarShon Brooks, Blatche, and Mirza all gave wonderful efforts in the win. Andray has been playing this well the whole season but the surprising performances from Brooks and Mirza will probably give them some more playing time and confidence in the near future. All-around great game for the Nets.
Looking Ahead
The Nets head to Philly on Tuesday to tackle the divisional rival 76ers. Four-game winning streak?
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