Heading into Game One of their opening playoff round series with the Hawks, almost no one expecting the Nets to compete with, or even possibly beat, the No. 1 seed Atlanta Hawks. However, outside of some stretches during which Atlanta was up double digits, Brooklyn did a pretty good job of staying close, but in the end, the Nets didn’t make enough shots to win and lost 99-92 to go down 1-0 in the series.
The only lead the Nets held all game was a 2-0 one right after tip on a Joe Johnson floater. Then, the shots stopped falling for Brooklyn as the Hawks–behind some hot shooting (made their first three three-pointers) and bad offense from the Nets–built up a double-digit lead.
Down 32-20 at the start of the second quarter, the Nets were on the verge of getting totally crushed in this game as Atlanta took 15- and 16-point lead at different times in the frame before the starters checked back in to cut the deficit to eight points before it evened out at 55-45 in favor of Atlanta by the half. Considering they committed 11 first-half turnovers (for 17 Hawks points) and went just 2-for-9 from three, being down by 10 wasn’t the worst possible situation.
Once the second half started, however, the Nets looked energized and used a 9-2 run to get within three, 57-54, just a few minutes into the third quarter. A really aggressive Deron Williams accounted for five of those points and looked primed to drag his team right back into a game it had no business being in.
But, the Hawks won 60 games for a reason and, after a timeout, responded with 10 unanswered points to go back up by double figures and hold off the Nets’ best comeback attempt of the day. Atlanta was winning 74-58 with under two minutes left in the third before Brooklyn scored four points to head into the fourth down just 12. Bojan Bogdanovic had a good look at an open three at the buzzer, but clanged it off the rim, eschewing a great chance to cut into the deficit more.
A similar script following in the final quarter as the Hawks built up their lead more only to see a 7-0 Nets run bring the road team right back into it. Bojan finally made a triple followed by a pair of Thaddeus Young baskets as Brooklyn narrowed the score to 84-77. Yet, even as the Nets closed within five a few minutes later, the Hawks kept holding them off. Brooklyn even used a 6-0 spurt with just over 90 seconds left to get within 93-89, their lowest deficit since the Hawks led 57-54 at the start of the third.
But, with a chance to be down one possession, Joe Johnson missed another open corner three-pointer and Atlanta took advantage of the ensuing intentional foul festival. Still, with 15 seconds to play and the Nets down 97-92, Deron Williams had a chance to extend the game. Instead, he missed a wild, three-point bank attempt which was the Nets’ last chance to come closer to a lead. It symbolized the evening for Brooklyn, which was just a few threes away (the team went 5-20 from long-range) of possibly winning this game.
Assorted thoughts: Reasons the Nets lost this game: the aformentioned horrific three-point shooting, their 17 turnovers and the fact that Brook Lopez only taking seven shots. Joe was 0-6 from three–with mostly open attempts–while Bojan was just 1-5; the Nets cannot compete with a good team in the Hawks if those two won’t be able to hit uncontested threes. Atlanta wasn’t much better (10-for-30) but did get 21 points on 5-11 three-point shooting from former Nets draft pick Kyle Korver, who seemed to always hit a three when the Nets threatened to get closer. With the turnovers, Atlanta’s active hands led to a bunch of easy fastbreak scores (Hawks scored 24 points off Brooklyn’s turnovers) that also contributed to the 55-point first half. Thaddeus Young and Jarrett Jack were the biggest culprits of this, combined for nine killer turnovers that essentially took field goal chances right away from guys like Joe, Thad and Brook. But, for some reason, Lopez wasn’t made a huge part of the Nets’ offense in this game as he only got seven shots up (he made six) for 17 points to go with 14 rebounds. Most of Brook’s scores came off putbacks as the Nets essentially went away from force-feeding him the ball, like they did in the past few weeks when he dominated the Eastern Conference. It just doesn’t make sense to limit your best players’ touches when he has a defined size advantage over those defending him….To make Brook’s limited touches worse, Earl Clark–who posted a team-low -11 rating–took six shots in his eight minutes and missed all but one of them. Clark may have shown a nice shooting touch occasionally since signing with the Nets, but he should not be getting that many looks in a playoff game. It was clear, from his first attempt, that he wasn’t feeling it….Thad and Joe combined to go 13-33 from the floor for 32 points. It’s never good to have more shots than points and those two had that because they just didn’t have it going for much of the night. Thad missed a ton–maybe three or four–looks right at the rim that he usually makes while Joe was ice-cold from three in his former home arena, even though the Hawks didn’t do a good job of getting out to defend him….Alan Anderson returned from a seven-game absence (ankle) to play 16 decent minutes. He made a big three and another jumper but outside of those, didn’t do a whole lot that was good or bad. He did move well, which is a good sign as he is a key defender and sharpshooter off the bench for Brooklyn….Al Horford (10 points, 10 rebounds) dislocated his pinky in the third quarter but came back in the game in the fourth. Not sure of how bad the finger is going forward, but it would be a big boon to the Nets if it affects his play in Game Two.
Onto the next one: Wednesday night in Atlanta for Game Two. If Nets have a chance in this series, they need to win that one.
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