<![CDATA[Well, with the Nets, it also seems to end harshly, doesn't it? That was the case last year, as the Nets fell in their inaugural (kinda) postseason in a home Game 7 to the Chicago Bulls in the first round. Brooklyn made it a little further this season, but still came away with the same result, as they lost tonight's Game 5 to the two-time defending champion Miami Heat and are now eliminated from the postseason.
Once again, the Nets played very well in the first half, building a 7-point, 49-42 halftime after an underwhelming (2-for-7 shooting, three turnovers) start by LeBron and a great one by Joe Johnson, who ended up scoring a game-high 34 points on 15-for-23 shooting. Once again, Joe's shooting, from both mid- and long-range, was on point, and noone on the Heat could stop him.
It appeared, for a little bit, that maybe Miami would come back and run away with this one, as the Heat tied up the score immediately with a second half-opening 7-0 run. However, the Nets answered with their own 7-0 spurt to reinstate their lead. Brooklyn continued to play well throughout the third quarter, going up by as much as 10 points, before taking a 75-66 advantage into the fourth quarter.
However, as they have done over and over again in the playoffs, the Nets just couldn't manage to close out a Miami Heat team that is incredibly talented, but was also helped out on countless close calls for the referees. But Brooklyn, after some Miami challenges, was up 91-83 at the 4:48 mark after a Joe Johnson jumper. Then, the Nets fell silent, not scoring for the next 4:37 until a Joe Johnson three with just 11 seconds left.
The Nets faded away late in the fourth quarter, and it ended up costing them their playoff life. The Heat, to their credit, took advantage of the stagnant Nets to go on a game-winning 12-0 run accentuated with a Ray Allen three–his first of the night–that put Miami up 93-91. Then Shaun Livingston missed a lane-floater he makes nine out of 10 times. Heat rebounded the ball and Allen hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to four.
Joe Johnson responded with an enormous three which was followed by a free throw split by LeBron, which gave the Nets the ball, down two, with nine and change seconds left. The Nets then got the ball into Paul Pierce, who lost the ball out of bounds off the Heat, which was confirmed via replay. It also appeared on the replay that LeBron hit Pierce's arm on the play, a foul that, if called, would have sent him to the foul line with a chance to tie the game.
However, the foul wasn't called and the Nets inbounded again, this time to Joe Johnson, who, after dribbling around looking for a shot, lost the ball as time expired. Once again, LeBron and Mario Chalmers appeared to have reached in on Joe to knock the ball lose but were not called for anything and were able to celebrate as the Nets were left thinking "what if."
Some other observations I had from the game: Where was Andrei Kirilenko down the stretch? He played great defense on LeBron in the second and third quarters but was nowhere to be found down the stretch when the Nets needed big stops. Jason Kidd coached a hell of a playoffs but just didn’t employ his resident defensive stopper at the exact moment he needed to with the season on the line. Enormous miscue from a rookie coach who wrongly assumed he needed another shooter on the court during crunch time without realizing just how good AK has been on LeBron this whole series….Jason Collins didn’t play at this series. Feels kind of remarkable considering the Nets’ interior defense troubles from time to time. Also, Mason Plumlee didn’t play at all in either of the last two games. Another interior defender….KG scored just two points but grabbed eight rebounds. He left the arena without talking to reporters and may have played his final NBA game tonight. If so, what a career, KG, can’t wait to see you inducted into the Hall of Fame….Andray Blatche played a grand total of four minutes and like the rest of the bench, really didn’t do much for the Nets. The reserves scored just 14 points overall and Mirza Teletovic, who played great in Game 3, bricked two open threes that the Nets could have really used. Just a lot of missed opportunities….Although he was hesitant to shot early on, Deron Williams played pretty well, scoring 17 points and hitting some big threes. His confidence was high and he made shots, but it’s a shame he wasn’t able to in Game 4 because if so, the Nets would have had a real shot to win….Joe Johnson was just incredible, dominating the Heat both in the paint and outside en route to a huge, 34-point performance. LeBron couldn’t stop him, and when he tried, Joe just shot right over him. But he missed a few shots down the stretch and wasn’t even able to get a shot up on the game’s last possession, even if he was fouled….The Nets did not lose this series because of the officiating, but I would be remiss to say it wasn’t a factor tonight. The Nets were called for 21 fouls to the Heat’s 16, and attempted just 15 free throws to Miami’s 31. Even Lebron (17) had more free throw attempts than the Nets. That’s a clear indication of the home team and defending champion Heat getting loads of close calls (and maybe more important non-calls) that swung the balance of this game, even if Eric Spoelstra and his team are unwilling to admit it. This isn’t new for LeBron and the Heat, who tend to dominate the foul category of most playoff games whether it due to their own handiwork or that of the refs. LeBron was only called for one foul the entire night, which, considering the 44 minutes he played of physical basketball, is simply ridiculous.
Looking Ahead
The 2014-15 NBA schedule comes out this summer and the Nets wil have to wait till then to find out when their season starts. Who even knows who is going to be on the team by then. Regardless, it was a fun but ultimately successful season in Brooklyn and hopefully the next one is better, because I already can’t wait for it to start.]]>
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