Needing a win after their trash fire of a season opener against the Boston Celtics, the Brooklyn Nets took on the Pistons on Saturday night in Detroit and got their first victory of the 2014-15 season.
On the contrary to their previous game, the Nets started tonight’s matchup with energy and hit shots from the tip. Deron Williams asserted himself early on, taking–and making–a lot of shots, both those near and far from the hoop. Also, Joe Johnson was dominant, and that was a theme which carried on throughout the game. He scored a game-high 34 points.
The Nets scored 33 points in the first quarter and took an eight-point lead into the second. Even though Detroit severely overmatched Brooklyn’s frontcourt–Brook Lopez is still out and Greg Monroe returned from a suspension, both of which didn’t help–the Nets held their own, and dominated the backcourt battle.
The lead only got bigger in the second quarter, as it reached 14 points at one instance. Mirza Teletovic–12 points on 4-of-7 shooting with seven rebounds–contributed nicely off the bench, just like he did on Wednesday. Jerome Jordan also bounced back from a rough performance to grab some key offensive rebounds and play good man defense on Monroe, Andre Drummond and Josh Smith.
The Nets’ 59-47 halftime lead didn’t stick for long, as the patented horror third quarter attacked, cutting the advantage in half as Detroit was able to start hitting some shots as Brooklyn went cold from the field. Still, the Nets weren’t perfect defensively, they were helped by the Pistons’ inability to hit threes–1-of-17 from behind the arc–and consistently capitalize on free throws–just 25-of-35 for 71 percent.
The fourth quarter was a scary one, as the Pistons fought all the way back early in the frame to take an 85-84 lead, their first since 15-13 in the first.
However, after Deron missed a few jumpers, Joe scored seven unanswered to put the Nets up 90-84. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope then hit a jumper at the 6:16 mark, and Detroit wouldn’t score again until 2:21. In that span, Brooklyn scored 10 points in a row to take a 14-point lead that was never given up.
There were a few scary moments in this game when it appeared as if momentum was favoring the Pistons and the Nets were possibly going to throw away a win. But thanks to some clutch shots–Joe Jesus, D-Will and KG mainly–the normal Brookly implosion never happened. The Nets stayed calm and pulled out a key road win, even without Brook in the lineup.
Some other observations I had from the game: Not enough can be said of Joe Johnson’s performance tonight. 34 points on 23 shots to go with eight boards and six assists, without a single turnover. Outside a cold patch in the third quarter, he was dominant tonight, regardless of who was guarding him. Whether it was a three, layup, post-up or stepback jumper, he was making his shots and when he gets in that mode, he can’t be stopped. I say this every game, but the offense should always be run through him, at least until Brook is healthy. Joe’s mix of length, size and shot separation (how he is able to get his shots off cleanly) is almost unheard of in the NBA which is why he is so good. The Nets need to capitalize on that advantage he presents…I mentioned this above and in Wednesday’s recap, but Deron Williams looks healthy and explosive so far this season. His play isn’t resembling the timid, pass-happy Deron from last year; it’s resembling his All-Star seasons in Utah with the Jazz. The numbers don’t look great–7-for-19 isn’t something to win an award for–but a number of those shots were jumpers that rolled in-and-out or layups he was hit while shooting, but not granted a free throw line trip for. With him, right now, it’s about the process, not the result. The process looks good and the result is coming along…Kevin Garnett played one of his best games as a Net. He was drilled his patented 18-footers with ease, grabbed rebounds in traffic and defending the Pistons’ big men very nicely. The Nets have had huge rebounding deficiencies the past few seasons–especially against the Pistons–and a big reason why they won the rebounding battle 48-41 tonight is because of how well KG did on the glass. He looked like vintage KG, for sure…Bojan Bogdanovic only hit one long two, missing his six other shots and still looked pretty lost on defense. I’m still giving him a pass for the huge adjustment to the NBA he’s making, but in subbing him out quickly on occasion, Lionel Hollins demonstrated that he needs to improve in order to get playing time. That’s an important message to send…Mirza and Jerome Jordan led the way off the bench. As per usual, MT3’s range gives opposing defenses fits as well as giving the Nets an explosive shooter who can change the feel of a game in just two long threes. He’s instant offense. Meanwhile, for Jordan, as bad as he was in the first game, he was good tonight. The offense and speed isn’t always there for him, but the height is, and he can be a valuable bench defender for the Nets going forward if he keeps this play up. The shot blocking also helps…Andre Drummond was in foul trouble for much of the night, which was a huge factor in his being kept in check. Very beneficial for Brooklyn.
Looking Ahead
The Nets head home to Brooklyn for their season home opener on Monday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, sans Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
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