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| Another fascinating and productive performance from Joe Johnson, who is clearly settling into his own with the Nets |
Wow, just wow. Tonight's Knicks-Nets was another (mostly) back-and-forth affair, mirroring the three other classic matchups between two teams from earlier this season. It was a game which involved a ton of fouls, some questionable calls, a bunch of three-pointers, and some really entertaining basketball.
Right off the bat, the Nets established Joe Johnson on offense, giving him the ball on two of the team's first three possessions on which he hit two threes, getting him going early on. However, the Knicks were able to keep pace by hitting some of their own long-distance shots which were open in the first half but had become mainly contested by the second half. The improvement from the first half to the second served as a sign of defensive adjustment made by the Nets. The Brooklyn squad took a two-point edge over the Manhattan team after the first 12 minutes of play and expanded on it ever so slightly during the second quarter to increase it to six by halftime.
The Nets bench, led by Kris Humphries and Keith Bogans, continued the solid play of the starters in holding Brooklyn's lead over the dangerous Knicks. Humphries scored the first seven points of the quarter, which were followed by a Bogans three. Then Carmelo Anthony got hot after an ice-cold first quarter, shaving down his team's deficit from a high of 10 to six, where it would remain.
The third quarter began with two Deron Williams-assisted shots, (a Brook Lopez jumper and a Gerald Green three) bringing the game to 52-43 in the Nets favor. Then–just as we normally expect from this team–the third quarter swoon hit like a blizzard and suddenly, the shutdown perimeter defense which limited Carmelo Anthony and Jason Kidd in the first half wasn't nearly as effective, dwindling the Brooklyn lead. The only thing keeping the Knicks at bay was a pair of D-Will three-pointers which kept the pendulum swinging in the Nets favor, just like Deron's threes did in that crazy Nets win over the Knicks at MSG last season. Deron didn't play nearly as well tonight as he did then but the stellar shooting he brought to the table may have done as much to win the game as any other player's performance did.
However, right after D-Will's second three, the Knicks raced out to a 10-0 run which turned a seven-point Brooklyn lead into a three-point Manhattan lead. It looked as if the Nets were finished because their body language was bad, MSG was rocking, and the momentum-dependent Knicks were beyond pumped; it really didn't look good for Brooklyn. The 10-0 run fed into the fourth quarter, when the Knicks' lead vanished as soon as the Nets' one did. A Humphries lay-in and another hugely momentous Keith Bogans corner three did the job. Later, a C.J. Watson corner three tied up the game at 75 after which Joe Johnson struck again with another pair of triples that gave the Nets a 81-77 advantage.
After a dry spell with no buckets for either team, one of Jason Kidd's six steals–a pickpocket of Deron Williams–led to a transition J.R. Smith jumper that brought his team within two. A few perimeter jumpers proceeded to not fall for the Nets and then a Melo drive led to a pair of free throws, giving the Knicks a lead of one point with 40 seconds left. This left the Nets with a solid chance of losing a game they dominated. Alas, Joe Johnson, as he has done a few times already this year, saved the day with a fadeaway 16-footer over J.R. Smith that clinched the game and knotted up the season series at two wins apiece. You can add that to the list of game-winners Joe has had already in the first 41 games of his Nets tenure.
Some other observations I had from the game: Player of the night: Joe Johnson. He scored 25 points on 8-20 shooting with five three-pointers, in addition to knocking down the game-winning jumper. Sure, 40 percent isn't great but it was the timing of Joe's made shots that made the difference. He also played great defense, shutting down both Iman Shumpert and Carmelo Anthony…..Another great performance from Brook Lopez, a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards. Brook also had some huge blocks–four to be exact–with a few key ones coming in the fourth quarter which rejected. Lopez sorely outplayed Tyson Chandler and made a convincing bid to be an All-Star….Kris Humphries played great in 27 minutes. Andray Blatche, who didn't play well at and didn't score, only scored 13. Humphries displayed the fight that made him good last year…..D-Will, who had a double-double with 14 points and 12 assists, ended his consecutive free-throw makes streak at 52 with a miss in the fourth quarter.
Looking Ahead
The Nets begin the second half of their season on Wednesday in the Great Northwest against the injury-snakebitten Minnesota Timberwolves.
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