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| Brooklyn's new starting five, four of which (not D-Will) will be playing tonight in Washington |
When: 7:00 pm; Tuesday, October 8th, 2013
Where: Verizon Center; Washington, DC
TV: YES Network/NBATV
The long and boring offseason is over, and now real basketball begins. Following their painful seven-game series loss to the Chicago Bulls in the 2013 Playoffs, the new-look Brooklyn Nets take the floor tonight in our nation's capital in their first preseason game. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry, Andrei Kirilenko, Alan Anderson, and others are in. Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, Gerald Wallace, C.J. Watson, and Keith Bogans are the main departures. The point is, that Brooklyn looks a lot different on October 8th, 2013 than it did on October 8th, 2012.
However, since it's just preseason, we won't be seeing the Nets in full force this evening vs the Wizards. Deron Williams, the final fifth of the Nets's starting lineup, and Jason Terry are both out as they attempt to nurse injuries to get ready for October 30th's regular season opener.
Basically the rest of Brooklyn's rotation will be available for the game in addition to the training camp pick-ups (like Gary Forbes, Jorge Gutierrez, Marco Jaric, and Chris Johnson). This means Jason Kidd will have a nice complement of players to work with.
Tuesday's matchup also represents Kidd's official head-coaching debut and much will be made in the upcoming weeks and months how the future Hall-of-Fame point guard is able to control his team and game situations. One preseason game won't yield many conclusions, but it's a precursor for the rest of the year.
Probable Lineups
BKN- Shaun Livingston (PG), Joe Johnson (SG), Paul Pierce (SF), Kevin Garnett (PF), Brook Lopez (C)
WAS- Wall (PG), Beal (SG), Webster (SF), Vesely (PF), Nene (C)
Final Thoughts
The Wizards, a mostly young team filled with talented guys like John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Otto Porter, are a good opening matchup for the older Nets to compare themselves against. We'll get to see Joe Johnson face off with Beal while Garnett and Brook Lopez battle against Jan Vesely and the tough Nene down on the block. Not exactly a litmus test game in the preseason yet, but a nice warm-up.
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