The fact that the Nets only trailed in this game for a three-minute stretch tonight against the Rockets should basically tell you all you need to know. Brooklyn, on 53% shooting, took down the injury-laden Houston team in a relatively easy win, the Nets’ 14th consecutive triumph at the Barclays Center, a team record for home winning streaks.
Brooklyn led for 45 out of the game’s 48 minutes, and whenever you control around 94% of any NBA game, you’re probably going to win and win by a pretty comfortable margin. This is exactly what happened on Tuesday night as the Nets–still without Kevin Garnett, Andrei Kirilenko, and even Marcus Thornton–cruised over the Rockets–without Dwight Howard, Terrence Jones, and Patrick Beverley–without a ton of resistance, outside of isolated Houston runs in the second and third quarters.
The key for the Nets was to get off to a good start, which they did by building a five-point, 29-24 lead after just 12 minutes of play. From that point on, except for a small hiccup in the second quarter, Brooklyn dominated the game, and never really felt like the Rockets, missing some key contributors, were going to be able to take back the lead for good.
Some other observations I had from the game: Bad news: Omer Asik had 23 rebounds. Good news: The rest of the Rockets only had 21, and the Nets had 42. Considering how poorly Brooklyn has rebounded this year, losing the battle by just two can be considered a huge win….The Nets shot well overall, but were dreadful again from three-point range (6-of-25 for 24%). Over the past few games, going back to the win over the Mavericks and losses to the Pelicans and Bobcats, the Nets have been hoisting up too many longballs and haven’t been making enough to warrant the attempts….Joe was great. Some nights, he doesn’t provide much for the Nets but tonight was not one of those nights. He was hitting shots from all around the floor and even hit four threes, 66% of the entire team’s makes from long distance….Andray Blatche added 13 points off the bench and Mirza contributed 10 and seven boards. With no Marcus Thornton (bruised back), the bench was a little handicapped but still managed to be productive. Jorge Gutierrez didn’t put up many stats, but he played 17 minutes and continued to be a nice, steadying force for the second line at the point.
Looking Ahead
The Nets have a quick turnaround, as they head to the west by one borough to play the Knicks at MSG on Wednesday night.
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