When: 7:30 PM EST; Monday, November 3rd, 2014
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
TV: YES Network
For once, the Nets are not the team on the wrong side of the ever-present fight with injuries.
Tonight, in their season home opener at the Barclays Center, Brook Lopez will play in a game that counts for the first time since last December. If you remember, in Brooklyn’s 121-120 loss to the 76ers that night, Brook broke his foot which cost him the rest of the 2013-14 regular season and postseason.
After battling some foot soreness during the preseason, he makes his season debut against the Thunder. The Nets could really use him too, even though they’re coming off a convincing 102-90 win over the Pistons on Saturday night. The season opening loss to the Celtics really exemplified just how valuable Brook is to this team.
Meanwhile, the Thunder are going through extreme injury problems, as Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, former Net Anthony Morrow, Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb are all out for Oklahoma City. Durant and Westbrook are among the best players in the whole league, so the Thunder are missing a lot of what makes them such a team.
Scott Brooks does still have Serge Ibaka and Perry Jones, but the fact that Sebastian Telfair (Brooklyn native) is starting for the Thunder certainly doesn’t bode well. The Nets are being gifted an opportunity to take on the league’s best teams without its two best players. They need to take advantage of that with a win.
Probable Lineups
OKC- Sebastian Telfair (PG), Andre Roberson (SG), Perry Jones (SF), Serge Ibaka (PF), Steven Adams (C)
BKN- Deron Williams (PG), Bojan Bogdanovic (SG), Joe Johnson (SF), Kevin Garnett (PF), Brook Lopez (C)
Final Thoughts
Who knows how good Brook Lopez will be after more than two weeks on the shelf with a sore foot, but just his presence should be enough for Brooklyn to beat this injury-riddled Oklahoma City squad, especially in the home opener. If not, we have some problems.
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