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| Mason Plumlee was flying all around the court tonight, scoring a career-high 22 points to go with 13 rebounds |
Finally, a coast-to-coast victory that the Nets can feel good about. Brooklyn hasn't dominated a team like they did the Pelicans tonight–in a convincing 12-point win at home–since January 21st in a beating of the Magic.
The Nets, showing some energy, passion, and, hell, even some ball movement, scored the game's first 11 points. There were some blocks of Pelicans' shots, some fast breaks, and even a KG (who looked pretty good in just 13 minutes of playing time) jumper. Then, some bench reinforcements entered the fray, and the scoring onslaught continued as Brooklyn rolled to a 29-14 advantage after the first 12 minutes. This was a lead the Nets would hold for the rest of the game. It got dicey, really dicey, in the third quarter, but remained comfortably large.
The second quarter was more of the same for the Nets, who just substituted their reserves in and were able to extend their lead. Mason Plumlee scored 12 points in the frame (all on free throws, layins, and dunks) and Mirza hit some shots. Who didn't do much, though, outside of a few assists? Jason Terry, who went 0-for5 from the field (and beyond the arc) tonight and only had one point, as he split a pair of free throws. Each game, he hits less and less open threes, begging the question why he plays so many minutes when Reggie Evans (another DNP-CD), who can defend and rebound, wilts on the bench.
The second half was more iffy, as a resurgent Pelicans team came out of their locker room with a purpose and intention to mount a successful comeback. New Orleans, on the strength of Anthony Davis (24 points, nine rebounds), Brian Roberts (12 points), and a little Eric Gordon, slowly cut into the Brooklyn lead throughouut the frame, cutting it to seven (64-57) at one point, nearly silencing the partisan Barclays crowd. An Al-Farouq Amino defensive 3-seconds violation spurred a quick 5-0 Nets run that stemmed the tide for the meantime, and a buzzer-beating Deron floater added some momentum into the fourth.
The only semblance of fight the Pelicans had left in them in the final frame was a Luke Babbitt three early on that cut the Brooklyn lead back under double digits to nine. After that, the home team scored the next seven points, firmly sealing up one of its easier wins of the season. Just what the doctor ordered.
Some other observations I had from the game: No Net starters reached 10 points. According to a tweet from one of YES Network's Twitter accounts, tonight's win was the first in the team's NBA history in which that happened. Don't get me wrong, the starters didn't play extraordinarily well but they also didn't play a ton of minutes. Also, the Brooklyn bench (like Mason, Alan Anderson, and AK–not Mirza or Terry) was really good overall. The starters, for once, didn't have to be good…..The Boomer and Carton Kitchen at Barclays (next to Section 17) has added a Philly Cheesesteak to its menu. It's pretty messy, but very, very good. Highly recommend for those who go to a lot of games….The bad from this game: 17-for-29 from the free-throw line, 6-for-28 from three, and 22 turnovers for the Nets. All three of those numbers cannot become the norm.
Looking Ahead
The Nets are off until Wednesday night when they take on the Bobcats at Barclays. The night after, they head to Chicago for the Bulls in Brooklyn's last game before the All-Star break.
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