Maybe the Nets’ early season struggles had more to do with travel rather than the roster itself? Ok, probably not, but after a 94-91 win on Tuesday night at Barclays against a pesky Phoenix Suns team — for Brooklyn’s first winning streak of the year — it’s possible the Nets are actually a decent team at home.
Brooklyn didn’t start the game too well — I know, not surprising — but closed the first quarter on a 11-2 run behind strong play from bench guys like Thomas Robinson and Shane Larkin. They continued the next frame how they finished the first one: with a lot of energy and effort, especially on the defensive end. The Suns were forced into taking a lot of bad shots and missed most of them. Thanks to good rebounding, Brooklyn was able to clean up the misses and run good offensive sets that led to good shots of their own. Also, it certainly helped that Tyson Chandler was out for Phoenix which let Brook Lopez have a field day down low.
After holding an 11-point lead late in the second quarter, and a 51-42 advantage at the half, the Nets looked decent for the first few minutes of the third quarter, but a 15-0 Phoenix run gave the Suns a 62-56 lead and threatened to knock Brooklyn out early. But, the Nets responded with 10 unanswered points of their own to put themselves back on top. Consecutive threes from Joe Johnson and Shane Larkin tied up the score and spurred the Nets forward.
Both teams battled to an even score until the last possession of the frame, when Eric Bledsoe drilled a contested buzzer-beating three to give Jeff Hornacek’s team a 73-70 edge heading into the fourth.
Phoenix used a three from former Net Mirza Teletovic (FEARZAAAA) and another triple from Bledsoe as part of a quarter-opening 7-2 spurt to take their biggest of the game at 81-72. The Nets were in a danger zone, needing to flip the proverbial script to keep the game close. And, that’s exactly what they did, as Brook Lopez notched an important three-point play against the undersized Teletovic at the rim. A few minutes later, Wayne Ellington drilled a three to bring Brooklyn within a single possession.
Then it was time for the Shane Larkin show. He had a direct role in eight of the next nine Brooklyn points (two jumpers, a layup and an alley-oop assist to Thad Young on a fastbreak) as the Nets wound up building a lead that would be held for the rest of the game. An Ellington layup and a Brook free throw extended Brooklyn’s advantage to 90-85 with just under three minutes left.
Both teams exchanged hoops for the next minutes until Brook, with a chance to end the game for good, missed an ugly jumper with five seconds to go and the Nets up three, 94-91. This gave the Suns a chance to tie it up at the last-second, but Bledsoe wasn’t able to get a shot off after the in-bounds due to hounding defense, so the Nets went on to win by that score.
Some other thoughts I had from the game: Mirza, in he and Cory Jefferson’s Brooklyn homecoming, actually showed exactly why the Nets miss him. He took nine shots, all threes, and made four of them, extending the Brooklyn defense and wrecking havoc from deep. Thankfully, he didn’t do much else and is not too great defensively, which allowed Brook Lopez — who Mirza was guarding due to Tyson Chandler’s absence — to feast at the hoop for 23 points….The only other Nets players to score in double digits were Jarrett Jack, Wayne Ellington and Shane Larkin, all of whom notched 11 points. Larkin may have been the Nets’ best player tonight, as he made multiple big shots, passed incredibly well (eight assists to no turnovers) and even helped out on the glass. He may play a little too fast from time to time, but Larkin is mostly always under control and is great in the pick-and-roll game with Brook, since he can make an open 18-footer if the defense sags off him. But if the defender hedges, he can get the ball to Brook for either a jumper or darting to the basket. He has been a perfect fit for the Nets. Ellington, who was big in Sunday’s win over the Pistons on his 28th birthday, was draining outside shots all night with confidence. The Nets were just waiting for him to find his stroke, and since he has, it has provided another big scoring option for Lionel Hollins. Jack didn’t shoot well and committed three turnovers, but also made a bunch of big plays, as he compiled eight assists as well. Additionally, he had three steals (Ellington and Larkin each had two while Joe had three) as Brooklyn forced 16 Phoenix turnovers which led to countless fastbreak scores….Thomas Robinson also made a difference in his 11 minutes. He may be taking the minutes of Andrea Bargnani, who was inactive with the hamstring injury he suffered on Sunday.
Onto the next one: The Nets stay in New York to play the cross-town Knicks at MSG on Friday.
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