On Western Conference road trips, it can be hard for teams like the Nets to get focused on perform with sufficient energy night in and night out. Energy, or rather lack of it, has been a problem for Brooklyn this season, especially against lesser teams. That’s why Monday’s game in Denver could have easily been a trap game.
For much of the first quarter for the Nets versus the Nuggets, that’s exactly how it seemed the road team was treating the game. Denver, with its few available offensive weapons, namely Danilo Gallinari, raced out to a 20-12 lead as Brooklyn slogged through another dull start to a game. But, once Sergey Karasev (yes, he’s still on the team) and Thaddeus Young checked in, things started to change.
The Nets finished the frame on a 14-3 run to take a lead into the second quarter they would never relinquish. Cory Jefferson came off the bench and provided a ton of enthusiasm with some big dunks and rebounds while Brook Lopez continued to score, posting 19 points and nine boards. Jefferson, who only played nine minutes tonight, went 3-4 from the field for seven points to go with five boards.
Fellow rookie, Markel Brown, got his first career star in the game and although he missed two-thirds of his shots, put together a point-rebound double-double and made some startlingly awesome defensive plays. Brown blocked four Nuggets shots, two on jumpers, and was huge on the glass, with a career-high 11 rebounds.
Both of those young guys were impactful in the Nets taking a 54-45 lead at halftime–after a 9-0 run to end the second quarter–and also in their 56-37 second half advantage that sealed the easy win. It’s nice to see this team not have to sweat through a win on the road and instead coast, rest up a little bit and watch the younger players take over.
Assorted thoughts: Every single Net that played tonight, all 10 of them, contributed in some way. As I mentioned before, Brown and Jefferson showed off their athleticism and were amazing with rebounding against a Nuggets team with significant size. Deron Williams continued his resurgence with his second double-double in as many games since the break (16 points, 12 assists). He looked like the confident floor general the Nets need him to be. Especially with Jarrett Jack (hamstring) and Bojan Bogdanovic (ankle) out, Deron had to lead the offense and he did it very effectively….Joe Johnson (12 points and eight boards), Mason Plumlee (14 points on six shots), Alan Anderson (13 points) and Thaddeus Young (15 points) all added a lot to the winning effort as well. Thad, in his second game with the Nets, was a huge pest on both ends of the floor and was constantly moving and making plays happen. He’s a real sparkplug and has clearly brought a huge boost to Brooklyn. What a trade….Final note: Winning games by a lot of points is fun. When NBA players are having fun, they play better. When teams play better, they win more games. Finally, the Nets are having fun.
Onto the the next one: Wednesday night in New Orleans against the Pelicans, sans Anthony Davis, Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday
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