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| Looks like tonight may have been a turning point game for Joe Johnson (22 points on 10-16 shooting). If he can keep hitting shots at around the pace he did last night in Orlando, the Nets can be a truly unstoppable team. |
The Nets did it again, even without Brook Lopez this time. For the third time already this season, our Brooklyn squad was able to best the undermanned, undertalented, and overall awful Orlando Magic. Much like the more recent game between the Nets and Magic, last night's started off very sluggishly and sloppily. Both teams were hitting shots but not much defense or energy or even effort level was being shown by either side. However, Brooklyn made enough outside shots to put themselves up by four points by the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was much like the first in terms of generally poor basketball, but it shifted the game's momentum in the way of the home team. Orlando held the Nets to just seven points during the first 6:34 of the quarter, and on the strength of varied scoring from Glen Davis, E'Twaun Moore, and the rest of the bench, the Magic climbed back into the game, cutting their deficit to just a single point at halftime after a Moore lay-up at the buzzer. The first half was far from a success for the Nets but had its fair share of positives, like Joe Johnson scoring 13 points and Gerald Wallace draining some perimeter jumpers.
Once again, the third quarter pushed the Nets lead into one that became insurmountable for the Magic to come back from. Gerald really started to rain the threes on Orlando in the third, hitting four of his five threes of the game in the quarter and scoring 12 of his 20 points in the third as well. Joe, Hump, and Blatche, with a little D-Will, also took advantage of the subpar defensive effort by the Magic to extend the Nets' lead to 76-65 by the end of yet another 12 minutes.The fourth and final quarter wasn't really anything more than a wash as Brooklyn held on for the win, their third against the Magic in November and their fifth-straight victory overall.
At some points, it was pretty clear that the Nets missed Brook Lopez' interior presence but were able to make it work. Andray Blatche did a great job in his stead at the center position, notching a near double-double in just 28 minutes. They might have been fine without Lopez against the lowly Magic, but the same probably won't be the true when they take on the Heat.
Some other observations I had from the game: First off, let's go to the broadcasting booth. Greg Anthony, with Ian Eagle doing play-by-play of course, did his first Nets game as a part-time color guy for the YES Network. Anthony, who has worked at ESPN and CBS recently in a similar capacity, agreed to work for YES this summer and, in my opinion, did well in his debut appearance. What I liked the best was that since he is new to covering the Nets specifically, he didn't sugarcoat anything he saw in a homerish way and, instead, said exactly what was on his mind. I still Ian and The Czar more, but Anthony is a pretty good alternative…..Okay, back to the game. I mentioned this above, but looks like last night was the Joe Johnson breakout performance we've been waiting for. He just looked like his old, more effective self who utilized post-ups wonderfully, hit his open shots from deep, and drove to the paint well too….Jerry Stackhouse didn't play (rest) so his minutes were split up between MarShon Brooks (not a typo), Tyshawn Taylor and even a little Mirza Teletovic …..Reggie Evans grabbed 10 rebounds. Also, the sun rose in the East and set in the West….Relatively poor game from Hump, just 11 points on 4-12 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. Not terrible, just not that great…..Starting for Brook Lopez, Andray Blatche had a pretty big double-double, scoring 14 points and collecting nine boards. Blatche is still doing the things–behind-the-back dribbling, waiting forvever to shoot, etc–that annoy Coach Johnson and fans of the team to its core.
Looking Ahead
The Nets travel downstate to take on the Heat tonight, looking to avenge the 30-point defeat they suffered at Miami's hands earlier this season.
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