For the first few minutes of tonight’s Nets-76ers game, it appeared as if Brooklyn would finally blow out a bad team without much pressure or worry. For the first few minutes at least.
After the Nets jumped out to a big double-digit lead in the first quarter, the losers of six of their last seven allowed a hungry, young and winless Philadelphia team to cut the deficit under 10 by the end of the first half. Up by as much as 20 (39-19) in the first half, there were multiple instances for the Nets to seal this one away early. Politely, they declined.
The second half started as auspiciously as the first, with the Nets scoring the first nine points to stretch their advantage to 58-41. However, the good play ended there for about 18 minutes as Brooklyn let Philly–led by 2014 second-roundr K.J. McDaniels and Tony Wroten, with a little Hollis Thompson too–right back into the game,.
By the end of the third quarter, the Nets’ lead was down to five and Philadelphia even took the lead on two isolated instances in the final frame. Thankfully, for the Nets, they were able to avoid disaster due to an excessive amount of fouls by the 76ers and the free throws and occasional clutch shot by Brooklyn.
Still, it was clear that the 76ers were the more athletic and energetic team tonight as noted by the multiple alley-oops between Wroten and Nerlens Noel, which exploited lackadaisical Nets defense. Hollis Thompson was even able to knock down wide open triples to help keep his team in this one for awhile.
Some other observations I had from the game: It was really good how strong the Nets started both halves of this game. What was really bad was the end of both halves and most of the third quarter. How stunning that these three parts of the game were so difficult for Brooklyn…The Nets committed 24 turnovers in this game. I wasn’t sure that was possible outside of college, but you learn something new everyday I guess. Brook Lopez, Deron Williams and Mirza Teletovic combined for 15 of those turnovers…Speaking of Brook and Deron, both played pretty darn well other than regarding turning the ball over. Finally, the Nets center looked assertive at the rim in terms of shot-making (he scored 19 points on 12 shots), rebounding (seven) and even on defense (three blocks). For the rare time on the season, he made a difference on opponents’ shots. D-Will put up big numbers across the board, scoring 17 points, dishing out 10 dimes and even coming up just two boards short of a triple-double with eight…Joe Johnson also helped the effort, scoring an efficient 21 points on 12 shots. It feels like he hasn’t played well in awhile so maybe tonight can get him on track…I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how important Alan Anderson was in this game. He played 28 minutes and scored 12 points off the bench with four rebounds. He hit a big three to stem a Philly run and also attacked the basket for a few layups to get the Nets much-needed baskets. When Anderson has confidence in his shot and makes smart decisions, he can be a game-changing reserve…Mirza and Bojan Bogdanovic combined for 4-16 shooting (2-10 from three) which didn’t help the cause. They missed multiple threes that could have prevented this from being such a close game.
Looking Ahead
The Nets have three more days off–partly to spend Thanksgiving with their families–until they’re back in Brooklyn on Sunday to face off with the Chicago Bulls.
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