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| If D-Will has another big game, the Nets probably will too |
When: 7:30 PM; Tuesday, January 15th, 2013
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
TV: YES Network
I know it's very hard to fathom considering how poorly the Nets were playing a few weeks ago, but Brooklyn is going for its 7th-straight victory tonight, in a game against the lowly Toronto Raptors who, ironically, was the first team the Brooklyn Nets franchise ever beat in a regular season game at the Barclays Center. With a Nets win up in Canada separating that November 3rd Brooklyn triumph and tonight's game, the Nets are looking to stay undefeated this season against their division rival neighbors from up north.
Toronto is coming off of a tough home loss at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday. That game was especially heartbraking for a team like the Raptors because they were up by 20 points early on, a quick advantage they would squander throughout the afternoon, most notably in the 4th quarter, in which the visiting team outscored the Raps by a score of 33-18. Monta Ellis, Brandon Jennings, and John Henson led the way for Milwaukee with 17, 19, and 19 points scored respectively. For a team that has faced some scoring troubles this year, the offensive output was a big surprise for the Bucks and a badly needed one as well.
Clearly, the reason the Raptors fell in that game was due to a stunning lack of bench production. Outside of four starters that scored 20 points or more, the five other Toronto players who suited up combined for only 10 points.
The Nets, a team that has been boasting with depth for the whole season, doesn't have that same problem, even with the expected absence of Gerald Wallace yet again, who is missing the game with the rib injury he sustained in last Friday's win over the Suns. Keith Bogans will start for him again.
Probable Lineups
TOR- Calderon (PG), DeRozan (SG), Fields (SF), Davis (PF), Johnson (C)
BKN- D-Will (PG), Johnson (SG), Bogans (SF), Evans (PF), Lopez (C)
Final Thoughts
The Raptors stink and the Nets, if they are to make some serious noise and possibly gain ground in the Eastern Conference standings, need to beat them soundly in a making-a-statement way at the Barclays Center.
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