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| Andray scored 23 points last night against the Knicks and has filled in admirably for Brook Lopez at center. Will he keep it up tonight in Toronto and help the Nets snap their five-game losing streak? |
When: 7:00 pm; Wednesday, December 12th, 2012
Where: Air Canada Centre; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TV: YES Network
Both the Raptors and the Nets are wallowing in self-pity right now, as each is dealing with some tough injuries to key players and is riding a five-game losing streak. The Nets, sitting two games above .500, are in a much better position than the Raptors are at this point in the season but without Brook Lopez in the lineup for what will be the seventh-straight game, they have been playing some all-around poor basketball. Toronto, on the other hand, is just in a bad place at the moment, sitting in the Atlantic Division cellar with a host of its best players not available to go tonight for a various reasons. Amir Johnson got suspended for grabbing the ball from the ref after a free throw and throwing his mouthpiece at said ref (yep, weirdest video ever), and Kyle Lowry and Bargnani both got injured during Monday night's atrocious loss to the Trail Blazers. Also, Linas Kleiza, Alan Anderson, and former Knick Landry Fields are all out with injuries too.
As a result, both of these teams look much different from what they did on November 3rd, the (alternative) opening night game for the Nets, which officially christened the Barclays Center as the planned November 1st debut against the Knicks in Brooklyn couldn't be played on time due to Hurricane Sandy's devastating effects. The Nets won that game by a final score of 107-100 as they narrowly held on to a lead that was built up via a 33-17 second quarter in Brooklyn's favor. The good news stemming from that game to this one is that Toronto's leading scorer in that meeting, Kyle Lowry (28 points, eight rebounds, eight assists), won't be able to play tonight as mentioned above. However, notorious Net-killer DeMar DeRozan is healthy which proposes a problem for the perimeter defense of the Nets, which has been awful as of late.
Without Brook Lopez playing yet again, the Nets are going to have to get more production from their guards and small forwards than they normally. Joe Johnson's up-and-down play so far this season have been documented countlessly and–I know I keep saying this–but there's no better time for him to have a confidence-building performance than against a terrible opponent like the Raptors that will certainly allow for him to have some great shot opportunities. Deron Williams has to hit the open three-point attempts that he's been getting as promising possessions turn into one-and-done's when he takes a quick three only to miss badly enough for the rebound to wind up in the hands of the other team. He only hit one-of-six shots from behind the arc, missing a few that may have shifted the momentum of the whole night.
Probable Lineups
BKN- Williams (PG), Johnson (SG), Wallace (SF), Evans (PF), Blatche(C)
TOR- Calderon (PG), DeRozan (SG), Pietrus (SF), Davis (PF), Valanciunas (C)
Final Thoughts
The Nets may be shorthanded without Brook, but the Raptors are even worse off. To boot, they aren't very good anyway so a loss to this team by Brooklyn would make me extremely petrified and concerned about this team's future. Thing to look for: I think Avery will try to get Kris Humphries involved more in the offense tonight against the thin Raptor frontcourt. Hump has been an afterthought with this new-look Nets team and just hasn't been given the proper chances to succeed with this incarnation of Avery's team. Gotta start eventually.
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