Nets Are Scorching

Photo Credit: AP Rich Schultz

Box Score – Hot Hot Hoops – The Heat Index

Well, I think we all saw that coming.

After starting the season 2-0 against relatively mediocre competition, the Nets finally faltered for the first time in the “It’s All New” Era, falling to SuperFriends & the Miami Heat by a score of 101-78. While the Nets fared slightly better than the Orlando Magic did against Miami two nights ago, it was still an ugly showing, essentially decided by midway through the third quarter. The Heat’s Big 3 combined for 55 points, 14 rebounds (only one by Chris Bosh), 16 assists, and made 20 of 26 shots from the free throw line. LeBron James ho-hummed his way to a 20-7-7, and Bosh (despite his rebounding woes) was the efficient shooter of the day, making 8 of his 10 shots without turning the ball over.

The Nets were never really in contention, never getting closer than 13 points in the second half. There were huge problems on both sides of the floor. Defensively, the Nets were a mess. Granted, the Heat have LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, but even so, there didn’t really seem to be much of a fight. The Heat were getting the shots they wanted almost every possession – finding the open man at will, making shot after shot, attacking the rim, and getting to the free throw line. The Heat shot 54% from the field, and it wasn’t just who you’d expect – Carlos Arroyo, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Eddie House combined to score 33 points and shoot 71% from the field. All in all, the Heat had 29 assists and only eight turnovers on 36 field goals. Many of the fouls the Nets were called for came shortly off a quick pass inside, too. Even when the Nets switched to a surprise zone defense in the third quarter, it was quickly broken down by the Heat, who whipped passes around, leaving the Nets baffled.

Offense was no different. No matter what the Nets threw at the Heat, they were simply completely overmatched. As mentioned, the game was over midway through the third quarter, as the Nets shot 35% from the field, 21% from 3, and only got to the free throw line 23 times – far less than Miami’s 34 and many after the game had already been decided. The officiating was questionable, but it went both ways – certainly didn’t affect the impact of the game. There were a few bright spots – Brook Lopez scored 20 points, Derrick Favors had his first double-double (& is now averaging one), & Devin Harris hit a couple of threes. But the Nets had nearly as many turnovers (15) as assists (16), Terrence Williams again struggled from the field (5-14) & couldn’t distribute the ball (2 assists to 4 turnovers), and Anthony Morrow-Travis Outlaw-Joe Smith-Damion James-Jordan Farmar combined to shoot 4-27 from the field and 1-9 from beyond the arc. From six rotation players, that’s an unacceptable level of production.

Truth be told, it’s easy to explain how the Nets lost this game – they’re not as good as the Heat. Plain and simple. The Heat are better on offense and they’re better on defense. There’s not much to analyze there. But it’s in the past now. The only thing they can do is accept the loss, strap up, and get ready for Charlotte on Wednesday.

Some more thoughts after the jump.

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After beginning the season 2-0 against two decent teams, the Nets finally face their first mega-test of the season in taking on the Miami Heat. This is going to be a difficult one to win just due to the sheer talent on Miami’s squad. Still, here are a few things to look out for:

• Dominate the inside. One of the biggest weaknesses in this Miami team is their lack of a true post defender at the 5. Troy Murphy is still out, but Brook Lopez has looked dominant offensively in these first two games and could provide a huge boost if he shows off the arsenal he brought to the table in the first two games. Averaging 27 points after the first two victories, another big showing could be key in keeping this game close.
• Attack the basket. Devin Harris has played more like 2008-2009 Devin Harris than he ever did last year in these first two games. He has a definite quickness advantage over anyone Miami could throw at him at point – Mario Chalmers and Carlos Arroyo won’t be able to keep up with him. I hope to see a bunch of pick & rolls with him and the two big men on the floor, since that would utilize our biggest strengths (interior scoring & PG slashing) against their two biggest weaknesses (interior defense, play from PG’s).
• Push with the second unit. Jordan Farmar, Terrence Williams, and Derrick Favors are three excellent athletes who have been gelling in the first two games. When Miami’s starters sit, the Nets have to take advantage and push the tempo. There are a lot of easy baskets to be found – let’s hope they find them.
• The Big Three. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh. Duh. No explanation needed here.

Also, I’ll be chatting occasionally during the game over at ESPN’s Daily Dime Live. Come check it out, because really, what else do you have to do at 1 PM on a Sunday?

With LeBron James and Miami Thrice coming to the Prudential Center today, it’s not only the fans who are reminded of the team’s failure to attract one of the “Big Three” in free agency this past summer. Fred Kerber talks to members of the front office, and captures what exactly went wrong in the team’s pursuit of LeBron and Chris Bosh, which reportedly went well when the team first made its pitch in July. Key section:

Remember when Devin Harris played like an all-star for an entire season? Watching Harris take over the end of a game offensively like he did last night against Sacramento was bringing back some pretty awesome memories:

Bill Kostroun / AP

Box Score — Cowbell Kingdom — Sactown Royalty

It wasn’t pretty — in fact, it was nothing more than putrid for much of the second half — but at the end of the night, the New Jersey Nets had won again. Brook Lopez led the Nets (2-0) with 29 points, and Francisco Garcia paced the Sacramento Kings with 18 off the bench, as the Nets ultimately won the game 106-100.

If there’s one thing that’s clear already about this Nets team, it’s that the players don’t give up. Last year, falling behind by any more than five points was essentially a concession, but this year, Avery Johnson seems to have instilled some resiliency in his new team.

The game started off well for the Nets, who were actually incredibly fun to watch for the first time in a long time. Lopez was hitting off-balance heaves, Travis Outlaw was hitting his perimeter looks, and Devin Harris was playing the distributor role well for a team that really needed it. The Nets were connecting on lob passes, going hard after rebounds and, most importantly, hitting all their free throws. All that pristine execution resulted in a seemingly unsurmountable 18-point lead.

Then again, these are the Nets were talking about, and the lead was all but insurmountable. There was a palpable shift of momentum in the second quarter, as the Kings (1-1) started hitting shots and the Nets got incredibly sloppy with the basketball. At the end of the night, the Nets had, very regrettably, 26 turnovers. Still, with the Nets shooting over 60 percent in the first half, they entered the break with an 8-point cushion.

But, in typical Nets fashion, the third quarter was an absolute massacre. Sacramento outscored New Jersey 24-15 in the period, and the lead had evaporated into a 1-point deficit. The turnovers were running rampant, Garcia got hot from the perimeter, and the Nets couldn’t hit a shot to save their lives. Needless to say, I’d gone from exhibiting unrestrained giddiness to clawing my hair out with every offensive foul and three-second call.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, it only got worse. The Kings continued to capitalize on the Nets’ turnovers, and they put together an 8-point lead. The ghosts of last year’s disappointment had returned, and I’d begun to resign myself to a loss. But in spite of my disposition, the Nets struck back forcefully. With 3:13 left to play and the Kings up 97-89, Harris found Lopez for a challenging hook shot in the lane, which sparked a 13-0 run for the Nets, highlighted by a Harris three-pointer closely followed by his trademark stepback jumper, to establish a 102-97 lead with 18 seconds to play. Though Garcia hit a quick three-pointer to keep the outcome in doubt, Jordan Farmar and Travis Outlaw promptly iced the game by making four free throws.

More analysis after the jump:

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Two games, two fourth quarter comebacks (though last night’s 106-100 victory over the Kings was more about averting a disastrous collapse from an 18-point first half lead). Still, the Nets are onto something. The always say die Nets of last year are gone. Here’s Coach Avery (per Al Iannazzone):

“Our guys are really starting to get the M.O. of a team that’s a bunch of fighters, guys that don’t give up,” Johnson said.

Devin Harris clearly wants to put last year in the past:

“I don’t like to reference last year but a lot of these games last year slipped away. It’s good to know we can execute and get over the top in a lot of these games.”

Harris is going a long way in getting his wish. A few more games like last night’s and Wednesday and people who are still stuck on last year are going to sound completely out of touch with what the Nets are putting together early on.

It’s still October and the Nets aren’t winless. Well that’s a good start. New Jersey looks to capitalize off its momentum after the win over Detroit (and, compared to last year, one win certainly represents momentum for this team) and come back with a strong effort against the Sacramento Kings. A 2-0 start would be a great boost of morale for this young, new team.

Here are a few things to watch for in the game:

• Derrick Favors vs. DeMarcus Cousins: Cousins has continually expressed a thirst to go after the third overall draft pick and Nets power forward (Psst … I think he’s a little bitter that he got drafted later!). While these two players most likely won’t be matched up on each other, and if they are, it won’t be for very long, but it will be interesting to see how they carry themselves on the court and if there’s any indication of hostility. Maybe Favors can draw a reaction from Cousins that illustrates perhaps why the Nets didn’t select him in June.
• The Return of Tyreke Evans: Evans missed the Kings’ season opener on Wednesday while he was serving a one-game suspension, but he’ll make his season debut tonight against the Nets. While the Kings played admirably in the absence of his ball-hogging tendencies, they’ll certainly welcome Evans’ ability to put the ball through the net. Devin Harris will have to be at his best on the defensive end if he hopes to contain ‘Reke.
• Perimeter Play: The Kings’ strength on defense lies in its frontcourt, where Samuel Dalembert and Carl Landry loom. Dalembert is listed as day-to-day on the injury report, so if he doesn’t play, Brook Lopez should have a good game working against his replacement. Still, the Nets are going to need to have success on the perimeter to expose a defensively lacking backcourt. Devin Harris is coming off a 22-point affair and Anthony Morrow and Terrence Williams both had good games Wednesday. If the Nets can find the stroke from outside, they should be able to put up a lot of points.

Consider this your thread for the game. Tip-off should be shortly after 7 PM ET.

Update 6:26 pm: OK folks, the contest is now closed. We have our winners.

For those who want to know, the answer to the question was Terrence Williams who opened his NBA and Nets career with 15 points and 10 rebounds on October 28 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Congrats to the winners and thanks again to all of the participants.

Original Post: The good folks over at StubHub were kind enough to provide Nets Are Scorching with some free tickets to Sunday’s 1 p.m. Nets game against the Miami Heat at Prudential Center in Newark. Are you interested in seeing Superfriends come to NJ for the first time? I’ll make it easy on you. First two readers to answer the following Nets trivia question correctly will be rewarded with two tickets to the game:

On Wednesday night, Nets rookie Derrick Favors came two points shy from finishing with a double-double in his debut game. Who was the last Nets rookie to collect a double-double in their regular season debut?

Send your answers to markginocchio at gmail dot com. Please don’t post your answers in the comments section, as it won’t count. First two correct answers in my inbox are the winners. And don’t fret if you don’t make the cut – we’ll hopefully do a few more of these as the season progresses.

Also, don’t forget to visit StubHub to find tickets for all of the games and live events you’re trying to get to.