Written by: Dan Kelly
“Whether they be good or bad, strong men cause trouble.”
-John Steinbeck
WHAT HAPPENED?: The Brooklyn Nets (34-24) opened up a 57-41 halftime lead and held on to break their two game losing streak.
The Nets shot the snot out of the ball in the first half: 62% from the floor and 75% from deep. D-Will had 20 in the frame to lead the Nets. Greivis Vasquez kept the Hornets in the building with 10 first half points, he finished with 20 for the game to lead the Hornets.
The second half belonged to the Hornets who outscored the Nets in both the third and the fourth quarters but were never able to climb all the way out of the hole they fell into early on.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Tough call. D-Will had a couple dirty crossovers in the first quarter. But it has to be the Greivis Vasquez steal on Deron Williams when Deron was casually crossing mid court to call a time-out. Rarely do we see that steal actually happen, though guys try it all the time.
STRANGEST DECISION: Mirza Teletovic did not play all night until he checked in with under 6 minutes to go in the 4th and the Nets’ lead evaporating rapidly. He looked awkward to say the least with an uncalled double dribble on his first touch and a rushed pass on his second touch. He did grab an offensive rebound that allowed for a Brook Lopez bucket.
SEXY INDIVIDUAL STAT: D-Will shot 10-21 for 33 points and 8 assists.
CONCERNING INDIVIDUAL STAT: Joe Johnson collected his third straight DNP.
SEXY TEAM STAT: The Nets hit 12-20 three point attempts. They also had 28 assists. Which is a ton for them. They are 27th in the league averaging only 20 per game.
CONCERNING TEAM STAT: The Nets were outscored in the second half 56-44.
HOT OR NOT: First Quarter Nets are HOT. Their offensive rating is 111 in first quarters. Third Quarter Nets are NOT HOT. The Nets were outscored 24-16 in the 3rd quarter tonight. Their offensive rating goes down to 96 in the third. Their offensive rebounding percentage goes down to 27.5. The drop in offensive rebounding is really the most notable drop in terms of Nets’ 3rd quarter statistics which basically means that the Nets don’t come out of half time with a ton of energy and focus.
BENCH MVP: Andray Blatche played well in the first half. He had 4 effective rumbling drives to the rim and finished the game with 8 points and 4 rebounds in 16 minutes. But Keith Bogans was the Bench MVP tonight. He was perfect from the floor (4-4) and perfect from three point range (3-3), finishing with 12 points and 4 rebounds in 20 minutes.
BRO BATTLE: Brook Lopez finished with 20 points 7 rebounds and 5 assists. His (younger) twin brother, Robin “Slideshow” Lopez, had 14 points and 7 rebounds for the Hornets.
HUMPIN’: Kris Humphries wrestled two offensive rebounds away from the Hornets in traffic on the same possession. The possession ended in a deep three by MarShon Brooks. Hump played a very loud 10 minutes of basketball in the first half. He grabbed four rebounds in those ten minutes but he annoyed about 11 or 12 other rebounds. The trade deadline has come and gone. It’s time to make the best of what Hump has to offer.
UP NEXT: Friday vs Dallas in Brooklyn.
