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| Deron's first double-double of the season (17 points and 10 assists) wasn't enough to lead a successful Nets comeback against the Pacers |
The Nets played pretty well last night at Barclays, but not well enough to hand the Indiana Pacers their first loss of the new season. Indiana improved to 7-0 last night after holding onto a late fourth quarter lead over a Nets team which negated nearly every basket it made down the stretch of the game with a defensive mistake or turnover.
Brooklyn gained the lead in the second quarter with great passing and ball movement, which led to high percentage shots. However, the third quarter–which has doomed them all season long–killed the Nets yet again, as the Pacers outscored their opponent 28-21 in the frame, and built a lead Brooklyn chipped at, but never broke through. The Nets came close at some points–within a layup of being down just one a few times and down just three with 11 seconds left before Joe Johnson missed a possible game-tying three–but couldn't execute when they needed to the most.
Some other observations I had from the game: This game marks the end of the #ReggieEvansReboundCount. The Nets' rebounding wizard earned a DNP-Coach's Decision for last night's contest as it appears that Jason Kidd is phasing him out of the rotation for Mason Plumlee, who is also a good rebounder but is a decent offensive player as well……Get rid of a few bad decisions and playsmade by the Nets, and Brooklyn could be 3-3 right now as opposed to 2-4. In the fourth quarter alone, Deron Williams's foul on a George Hill three-pointer, Deron's dribble which was stolen by Paul George, multiple Pacer offensive rebounds, and two offensive fouls all made sure the Nets wouldn't be able to complete their comeback attempt.
Looking Ahead
The Nets, who are 2-4 in Eastern time zone games this season, head to the West Coast for the first time to take on the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night (and the Suns and Clippers later in the trip). Maybe a change in coast and time zone will give Brooklyn to jolt it needs to win its first game and end its two-game losing streak.
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