Neither team wanted to win this one, but alas there can’t be any ties in basketball, so they kept playing…and kept playing until the Nets pulled away from the Bulls in double overtime to get the 127-116 win.
- T-Will picked up his first career triple double going for 27 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. He actually needed that one assist from the final 3 minutes of regulation on, but he didn’t get it until the final seconds of the second OT.
- Down 2 with only a couple seconds left, everyone thought the Nets were going to go for the three and the win. However, Courtney Lee attacked the basket, forced rotation, and Brook Lopez ended up with a tip-in dunk at the buzzer.
- This little stretch of league pass games makes me oh so grateful for the announcing crew we have when we watch Nets games. The Bulls’ announcers were terrible tonight, and Stacey King (their color man) even went so far to pretend to gag as the Nets missed a few free-throws. Really unprofessional, and in the end he ends up looking silly as the Bulls’ choked multiple times late.
- Brook Lopez has the tip I mentioned before, and he finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds.
- Courtney Lee played well also. He scored 16 points, but the biggest moment might have came where he stopped Derrick Rose on an ISO with 12 seconds left. With no help.
- The Nets outscored Chicago by 20 in the paint, by 10 in transition, and by 5 at the foul line. There is your game right there.
The Nets are coming off a pretty disappointing performance against the Bucks, and I expect that trend to continue tonight against the Bulls. It’s not that the Bulls are much more talented than the Nets (I mean, they had tons of trouble beating a LeBron-less Cavs team), but they are fighting for something. That something is the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Nets on the other hand, don’t really have nothing to play for. While they are playing looser (in my opinion), they aren’t really playing with the same hunger as they were since they won magical #10. Playing looser is good in close games, but unfortunately the Nets haven’t been in any recently. The Bulls are coming off a back-to-back while the Nets are coming off of a day of rest, so that may be a factor. Onto the lineups:
Devin Harris vs. Derrick Rose
Advantage: Devin Harris
Courtney Lee vs. Kirk Hinrich
Advantage: Push
Jarvis Hayes vs. Luol Deng
Advantage: Luol Deng
Yi vs. Taj Gibson
Advantage: Taj Gibson
Brook Lopez vs. Joakim Noah
Advantage: Brook Lopez
If you are a regular reader of the blog, you already know about the fantastic site HoopData.com (and seriously if you have never been there, you need to go…now). In addition to all of the stats that they provide, they also have a really cool feature called Motion Charts. These motion charts take all of the information they provide, and they display it in a way that makes it really easy to spot trends. They display three areas of statistics using motion charts; they are player stats, four factors, and what we are looking at today, shot locations.
Brook Lopez
Brook is a fantastic player, and his improvement this year over last year is fantastic. The main reason why is his improvement inside 10 feet:
This motion chart tells us that Brook Lopez is not only getting more attempts inside 10 feet, but he is shooting even better from this location. Last year, Brook was shooting 40% from this spot while shooting 2 shots per game. This year, Brook is taking 2.62 shots/game inside 10 feet while making 49% of his shots.
Read more…
Expect another delay with the NBA’s approval of Mikhail Prokhorov. Formalities, we’re told, as they’re just waiting for the Brooklyn area to clear (aka, Daniel Goldstein to move).
Andrey Vauskin, president of CSKA in Moscow and a rumored member of the Nets FO next season is apparently unhappy with the cost-cutting of his ownership.
It’ll be Yao vs. Yi in China during the preseason as the Rockets face the Nets (uniforms subject to change).
Evan Turner is ready to come to the NBA and lose: ”I don’t plan on losing, but if it happens I always say you have to pay your dues,” Turner said. “The most important part is learning from your losses. You have to have confidence and be committed to the mission.”
Bucksketball | BrewHoop
Remember when the Nets had 8 guys score in double digits. There was no question that was the main reason for the Nets big win against New Orleans. Well, last night, the lack of depth is what really killed the Nets. Outside of Devin Harris and Courtney Lee, nobody really did anything of note. In fact, other than those two guys, the Nets only had 1 more player in double figures. It was Yi, who finished with 11 points, but it was 2-8 shooting, and he really didn’t have a major impact. Jarvis Hayes had a rough game, since he wasn’t knocking down his shot. It is usually feast or famine with Jarvis, and last night was famine. Jarvis is a fantastic shooter, but he seems to go in those slumps where he just can’t knock anything down, and that was the case last night. Brook Lopez also really struggled. Totally wasn’t expecting that since Andrew Bogut was out, but Brook just didn’t get into a rhythm offensively. As Jon noted in the comments, part of it had to do with Devin’s hot start. The other part of it just has to do with the Nets’ offensive strategy. It just never seems like getting Brook Lopez involved is a priority, and against a team that just lost their best defender in center Andrew Bogut, it’s frustrating.
Trying to focus on the positive a little bit, it was good to see Devin Harris and Courtney Lee get it going. Now that the Nets have gotten their 1oth (and 11th) win to avoid infamy, the wins don’t really matter. You want to see the guys who are going to be with the team next year finish on a good note, and seeing Courtney and Devin play well is the start of that. Both of those guys have been through so much in terms of slumps and injuries that if they can finish the year playing well, they can have something to work off of. Something to keep them motivated. On the flip side, I am not really worried about Brook Lopez finishing the year off slow (or slower than the beginning of the year), just because he has played so strong all year and never really had to face any injuries or adversity.
Some more thoughts after the jump:
Read more…
Kris Humphries on his future with the team: “I haven’t thought about it much, because nobody knows what’s going to happen with this team, and the way the next Collective Bargaining Agreement will turn out,” Humphries said. “Those things will probably play a role in my decision. There’s a lot to think about.”
As Julian Garcia notes, the Nets managed to clinch something last night: Wednesday night’s 108-89 loss to the Bucks put the Nets in position to at least be tied with Minnesota for the worst record in the league when the season ends on Wednesday. If the Nets finish dead last, they will have the best odds – 25% – of getting Kentucky point guard John Wall or one of the other top-notch college players who declared for the NBA draft yesterday. If they finish tied with the Timberwolves, the teams will have the same lottery chances of getting the top pick.
Al Iannazzone writes that Yi’s status with the team is uncertain: Presuming the Nets don’t get LeBron James or Dwyane Wade, they should have a shot at the likes of Carlos Boozer, Amar’e Stoudemire and David Lee. Each has been an All-Star at some point, so Yi’s days as a Net seem numbered.
Al also takes a look at Mikhail Prokhorov’s riches.
Devin Harris, talking with Madison.com, has some perspective about his career: “If you’re looking to put it in perspective,” added Harris, who won 67 games as a member of the Dallas Mavericks in 2006-07, “I’ve been to the highest of the highs and the lowest lows. I’ll learn from it. I’ll be better next season, I can tell you that.”
Bleacher Report looks at the Top 10 first-round playoff series, and the Nets/Pacers match-up from 2002 makes the cut. I would have ranked it much higher, personally.
What started as a close game for the first half turned into a runaway victory for the home team, as the New Jersey Nets fell to the Milwaukee Bucks 108-89 in Milwaukee earlier tonight.
- The Nets were a one man show offensively for most of the game, with Devin Harris leading the way early, and finishing with 25 points and 4 assists on 9-15 shooting, including 3-4 from three.
- Courtney Lee chipped in with 19 points and 6 rebounds on 8-15 shooting, including 3-5 from three.
- The rest of the Nets were ice cold, and the team was 39 percent from the field. Terrence Williams started off April with a thud, with 6 points and 4 rebounds on 2-13 shooting. Brook Lopez was 1-5 and finished with 6 points and 5 turnovers, but on a positive note, he did collect 7 assists.
- The Bucks shot 52 percent from the field and were led by John Salmons with 22 points on 10-13 shooting. Jerry Stackhouse must have woken up in the 1990s, chipping in with 18 points off the bench.
Before we look at tonight’s game, I just wanted to say I am feeling for the Bucks. I am a fan of Bogut (and of Coach Skiles), so I have been watching a lot of their games recently and they have been playing great. I really think that they could have done some damage in the playoffs if Bogut being injured. We would have also gotten to see a great matchup between two premier centers in Bogut and Brook.
With that being said, the Nets are coming off a bit of a disappointing result in a 10 point loss to the Wizards. However they have had 2 days off (while the Bucks are coming off of a battle against the Bulls), and the Nets actually play pretty well coming off of multiple days rest. The Bucks are a terrific defensive team, so the goal here is to not get down if you have some long stretches of scoreless basketball. The Nets also need to keep this game within 3-4 baskets. Anything more than that (even in the first quarter), and the Bucks are too good on the defensive end that they won’t let the Nets back into it. Onto the lineups…
Devin Harris vs. Brandon Jennings
Advantage: Devin Harris
Courtney Lee vs. John Salmons
Advantage: John Salmons
Jarvis Hayes vs. Carlos Delfino
Advantage: Carlos Delfino
Yi vs. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Advantage: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Brook Lopez vs. Kurt Thomas
Advantage: Brook Lopez
