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| If the Nets could stop Marco Belinelli from basically walking to the hoop for a wide open lay-up, they might have been able to win tonight. Of course, they weren't able to stop him |
Blame it on having to play two games in a row, the second coming after a double overtime win. Blame it on Brook Lopez only having the ability to play 25 minutes due to recovering from his foot injury. Blame it on the 18 turnovers leading to 17 Bulls points. Blame it on Marco Belinelli's game-winning layup, a layup which was not even close to contested by any Nets defenders. Blame it on Avery Johnson inexplicably only playing MarShon Brooks for 8 minutes (1/6) of the 48-minute game. Actually, blame it on whatever you want. The Nets took a game they were leading by six with roughly four minutes left and promptly chucked it down a sewer, threw it in a furnace, lit it on fire, etc and etc. Pick whatever descriptor you want, because it can't change the fact that the Nets lost a very winnable game tonight, one that made me supremely and irrationally angry for some reason I can't pinpoint.
It was a very close game throughout, so whenever one team would take a lead of five, the other would cut it down, evening up the score. Unfortunately, that happened in the fourth quarter, after the Nets took their biggest lead of the game, being one of the six-point variety. A patented Joe Johnson floater gave Brooklyn a 77-71 advantage with 5:43 left to go when the Nets defense simply disappeared. Marquis Teague hit a few open shots, Marco Belinelli (he of the average shooting guard ability) tossed in a few wide open layups, and even a Luol Deng shot gave the Bulls a two-point lead with 22 seconds left in the fourth.
True to form, Avery Johnson had no play set up after the ensuing timeout, which resulted in D-Will bricking a fadeaway jumper in a futile effort to tie the game. Of course, any other competent NBA coach would have drawn up a play in this situation for their team's best one-on-one playmaker (for the Nets, Joe Johnson). However, since Avery isn't competent, he didn't do that, and hasn't done it at all this season when the games have come down to the wire and depend on one possession. Is it too late to ask if Jerry Sloan or Nate McMillan can coach this team.
Some other observations I had from the game: For some god forsaken reason, Reggie Evans and Andray Blatche didn't play more than 23 minutes apiece. It's not like they were injured or playing ineffective, Reggie was just dealing with a little foul trouble. I've given up explaining how Avery determines who plays and for how long…..MarShon got eight minutes…..Brook Lopez looked great in his 25 minutes as he slowly recovers from his spraining foot. Double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds against the solid frontcourt pairing of Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah…..D-Will scored 24 points on 5-13 shooting and 4-7 shooting from three. Took last two shots in regulation for the Nets, hitting the second (which was a three at the buzzer, but down four didn't matter) and missing the first which would have had a difference. My thoughts on the shot selection of the play are above in rant-form…..Joe scored 16 points on 7-16 shooting, but did commit six costly turnovers. Continued to show some "old Joe" with some nasty step-back jumpers–like last night's game-winner–and interior drives. The Nets can't afford for much more than three turnovers from him though.
Looking Ahead
The ragged Nets get a much-needed–but not really deserved–break until Tuesday night, when they match up with the Jazz in Brooklyn.
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