The Nets kept it close between them and one of the NBA’s best team for one half but the other half was a completely different story as Brooklyn lost its second straight while the Cleveland Cavaliers won their seventh game in a row.
Brook Lopez (lower back strain) and Joe Johnson (flu) both didn’t play for the Nets, who shot 55 percent in the first quarter but fell to just over 44 percent on the game in the last three quarters. Deron Williams posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists but went just 3-14 from the field. Kevin Garnett scored 14 points to lead the Nets (8-11).
The Cavaliers (12-7) led 50-49 at halftime but outscored the Nets 35-18 in the third quarter to take a commanding double-digit lead they would hold for the duration of the game. Dion Waiters, off the bench, led the way with 26 points while fellow reserve James Jones hit four threes. Kevin Love and LeBron James scored 19 and 18 points respectively.
Without two of their three best players, the Nets were clearly overwhelmed by talent tonight but managed to hold it together well enough for two quarters before falling apart in the second half. Can you really blame them?
Some other observations I had from the game: The three-point shooting continued to be a problem for Brooklyn, as they only made four of their 19 attempts (21.1 percent). Bojan Bogdanovic and Alan Anderson each went 0-3 from deep while Mirza Teletovic Deron Williams went 1-for-6 and 1-for-4 respectively. That’s just not going to cut it…Brooklyn only made 12 of its 19 free-throw attempts. Combined with the lack of three-point success, the Nets left a ton of points on the floor…Cleveland grabbed 55 rebounds, 20 of which were offensive. Conversely, Brooklyn accumulated just 33. There’s your reason why the Cavs got nine more field goal attempts than their opponent. Also, three Cavaliers posted 12 or more boards. Brooklyn’s high rebounder was Kevin Garnett, with seven.
Looking Ahead
The Nets head out on the road to take on the Bulls in Chicago on Wednesday night.
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