Nets Are Scorching

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I have a confession to make about last nights Nets/Knicks game. I almost didn’t stick around long enough to watch what was initially shaping up to be a major-league blowout for the Knicks, but ended up being a laugher and win No. 7 for the Nets.

Do you blame me? It’s a Saturday night match-up between two teams who are really only competing for the long-shot chance of signing a major superstar this coming summer. In the games first 6 minutes, the Nets were shooting 1-13 from the field and were down double-digits, as the Knicks were just running them off the floor, scoring 10 fast break points during that timeframe. The Nets looked inept on offense and outright lazy on defense. Seriously, how does Danilo Galinari get ahead of four Nets defenders and score on a 65-foot inbounds pass the way he did in the first quarter? So, pardon me for being tempted to shut the television off, go out for a few hours and come back in time to watch the last few minutes of what I was assuming was going to be another Nets loss so I could fudge a recap and some bitter, angry “thoughts.”

Fortunately for you, dear readers, my desire to maintain the high standards of Nets Are Scorching kept me watching long enough to see some kind of light switch on for the Nets. Similar to their game last weekend against the Boston Celtics, where the Nets fell down by 10 early, they used the long-ball to get back in and eventually distance themselves from the Knicks. And unlike the Celtics, who gave the Nets a run for their money in the fourth quarter, the Knicks looked very disinterested down the stretch, as the Nets continued to make ridiculous shots, drawing hearty boos from the MSG faithful, who act like their team is on the verge of making nefarious history, and not just in the midst of another lousy season. Then again, the Knicks did set an NBA record last night by attempting the most amount of threes (18) without a single make. So now the Knicks and the Nets both have 0-18 scarlet letters on their respective resumes.

Going back to the positive, I think the Nets are finally starting to consistently get the Courtney Lee they expected to acquire from Orlando back in June. In his return from an ankle injury, Lee picked up exactly where he left off before injuring himself in Boston last week. The long-range shooting from Lee (5-7 from three) adds an element to the Nets offense that’s otherwise missing unless Jarvis Hayes gets into a groove. But where Lee has been really impressive lately is with his mid-range pull-up jumpers. Lee finished 4-8 from the 15-18-foot range, and when he’s doing it off the dribble, it opens up so many more possibilities on offense for both he and his teammates.

It was also great to see the Devin Harris of February make his return to the ranks of the NBA last night. For three straight games, I’ve been wondering if Harris was dealing with a relapse with his wrist injury based on the vast number of misfired jumpers he was taking (most of which were coming up short off the front of the rim, sure sign of a wrist injury). Harris attacked the basket early – even scoring on a dunk at the 6:20 mark of the third quarter, something I haven’t seen Harris do for almost the entire season. He led all scorers with 31 points, including 9 in the fourth quarter, taking over the game in a way he’s only really done a handful of times this season.

I’d also be remiss in mentioning that Yi Jianlian left the game towards the end of the first quarter with an ankle injury. While, I would never wish an injury on anyone, the timing was pretty good in this case, as Yi was making a number of his trademark low IQ plays early-on which were contributing to the Knicks early onslaught, which put New York up by as many as 16. Yi was looking to have one of those games where even when he did something positive, it was tinged with something negative, like when he grabbed a loose ball at around midcourt with about 6:25 left in the first and proceeded to barrel over the Knick defender for a layup. I was shocked he wasn’t called for a charge, and even Mike Fratello was admonishing Yi for not hanging the ball over to Keyon Dooling, who was right there.

A few more thoughts after the jump:

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Over at the 2010 MIT  Sloan Sports Conference, where I’m beginning to think I’m the only TrueHooper not in attendance (see some of Sebastian’s coverage at NBA Playbook Here), Mikhail Prokhorov was mentioned as the “next generation” of sports owner.

Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy on yesterday’s superstar, Courtney Lee, as told to Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger: “He’s a very good player,’’ Lee’s old coach with Orlando, Stan Van Gundy, said of the 6-5 second-year guard. “His rookie year, he basically took open shots, moved the ball, played very good defense, didn’t make mistakes. And I think early in the year (with the Nets, after coming to New Jersey in the Vince Carter trade), trying to get back to the way he was in college and trying to be more aggressive was a little bit more of a challenge.

In Al Iannazzone’s recap, Courtney Lee says he sees yesterday’s game as a turning point for the team: “It feels good,” said Courtney Lee, one of the Nets stars with 25 points in his first game back after missing the prior three with a sprained ankle. “We’re starting to play together. We’re starting to understand and make the right reads out there. I feel finishing the season we’ll be a pretty good team.”

Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni is none too happy about last night: “It is as bad as it gets,” Mike D’Antoni said. “We just have to come back Monday and try to do better. I don’t have a lot to say; we just have to pull it together and find a little bit of a combination that works a little bit.”

Adam Jacobi at SB Nation, says last night’s game means two things:

1. The world has gone completely crazycakes
2. The Knicks are falling apart faster than 4-year-old’s alibi in the case of the missing cake frosting

Just thought I’d mention that this New York Post report refers to the Nets as “impotent.” Does this mean the players should have just been taking viagra all season?

Brian Windhorst of the Plain Dealer mocks Chris Douglas-Roberts for his recent cryptic comments about whether or not he would help recruit LeBron James to the Nets: That’s what the Nets get, apparently, for upsetting a player making the minimum salary who is averaging 10 points per game.

Old friend Rafer Alston, who hasn’t played any better since going to Miami, was indefinitely suspended by the team and is mulling retirement.