The way the Nets started tonight’s game in Orlando, it seemed as if they were still a little hungover from their personal New Year’s Eve parties. Brooklyn turned the ball over in each of its first four possessions and looked like a team fully prepared to throw away another chance to get back to the .500 mark.
Then, they started to play like a team that really wanted to win their sixth game in seven overall tries, doing this by moving the ball incredibly well on offense as well as defending as well as they have all year. After losing the first quarter 25-22, this led to Brooklyn winning the second and third frames by a margin of 64-36.
Brooklyn took a 25-point lead into the fourth quarter and for most of it, it appeared as if the Nets would cruise to their 16th win of the season and there was no reason why they wouldn’t do that. But the Nets had different plans and you longtime fans know, things never seem to flow smoothly with this organization. 99 times out of 100, when a NBA team is winning by more than 20 points in the fourth quarter, they win the game easily. Tonight was that one time.
At the 9:56 mark of the frame, Brook Lopez made a dunk that gave the Nets a 90-65 advantage. Over the remaining time, Brooklyn systematically collapsed against one of the NBA’s worst teams, allowing the Magic to score 33 of the remaining 43 points as they climbed right back into a game they had no business being in.
It was a combination of horrible Nets shooting, some stupid turnovers and hot Orlando offense, but importantly seemed to be a lack of effort on Brooklyn’s end. That’s inexcusable for a team that has grossly underperformed expectations this year, even with the recent resurgence. This team should take nothing for granted which is exactly what it did tonight.
With their lead down to as little as two points toward the end of the game, the Nets were just an Evan Fournier three or some Elfrid Payton free throws away from a truly shattering loss. Thankfully, for them, some balls bounced their way and they got the win. On other nights, with that same stinkfest of a quarter, the Nets would just be 15-17, instead of the 16-16 they are now.
Assorted thoughts: I’m going to choose to be positive after a strange game like this one, in which the Nets dominated for most of the way. The team shooting (57 percent from the field), rebounding (45 compared to Orlando’s 37), passing (26 assists on 41 made field goals) and defense (Magic shot 42 percent and Nets had 12 combined blocks and steals) were all astounding. But, the three-point shooting (35 percent), free throw shooting (11-of-18 for 61 percent) and turnovers (22, yuck) were dreadful and almost cost Brooklyn a sure-win. Still, though, there are certainly a lot of things to be pleased with after this one….Bojan Bogdanovic did not get a single minute in this game and either did Jerome Jordan. Lionel Hollins stuck to a nine-man rotation and stuck to it in a balanced fashion: eight of nine players were on the floor for between 18-34 minutes. That’s the first game Bogie hasn’t appeared in this season and he certainly wasn’t unavailable due to injury….The Nets won due to the play of their two “centers” in Mason Plumlee and Brook Lopez. Plumlee started again and was a fiend above and below the rim, throwing down a ton of dunks off solid passes (9-10 shooting for 18 points) as well as rebounding the ball very well (nine boards). Lopez played just 18 minutes off the bench but scored 16 points on 7-8 shooting along with eight rebounds and three blocks. Second dominant game in a row from Brook….Long Island native Tobias Harris (12 points) was one of seven Magic players who scored in double figures. Fellow New York natives Channing Frye (11 points on 3-6 three-point shooting) and Ben Gordon (14 points on 5-9 shooting) also played big roles for former Net Jacque Vaughn’s team….Deron Williams looked good again, hitting all three of his three-point attempts and five of his 10 shots overall en route to 16 points. But the biggest numbers from his game? His seven assists and only one turnover….Kevin Garnett (nine points and six rebounds) hit a three in the first half, his first as a Net. Yep, was a pretty weird game.
Onto the next one: Sunday night in Miami against the Heat, whom the Nets have lost to twice this season.
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