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Kris Humphries' mild abdominal strain, originally expected to keep him out until the new year, may have healed faster than expected. The Nets announced today that Humphries is probable for tonight's game against the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio.

P.J Carlesimo said before Saturday night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers that Kris Humphries' injury would keep him out for a couple more days, and that he expected his first practice to be on New Year's Day after tonight's game.

Along with Humphries, the Nets unexpectedly put Gerald Wallace on the injury report, listing him as questionable for tonight with a bruised left knee.

 

Some news and notes from around the Nets:... MORE →

 

Josh Childress

The Brooklyn Nets have requested waivers on small forward Josh Childress, the team announced tonight after its 103-100 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

According to Howard Beck, Childress requested the waiver himself before the game, saying that he didn't see a role for him on this roster.

Childress appeared in 14 games for the Nets, averaging 1.0 points and 1.1 rebounds in 7.1 minutes per game. The Nets signed Childress in the hopes that he could be a dynamic sixth man with the roster as he was in Atlanta, but that promise never came to fruition, as he dealt with injuries throughout his tenure on the roster and never seemed comfortable on the floor.

Childress was on a non-guaranteed deal with Brooklyn that would have become guaranteed on January 10th. Waiving Childress leaves the Nets with one open roster spot.

 


Deron Williams POINT GUARD

Not superstar production, but a solid effort. Some really beautiful quick passes, both in the half-court and on the fast break. Hit jumpers again, which is an anomaly. Had a ridiculous scoop-shot-layup-thing in the third quarter that I'm still struggling to explain, so that was kind of cool.

Joe Johnson SHOOTING GUARD

Hit his jumpers and had some good moments in the post. Hit 2 free Didn't attack the lane whatsoever, which has been a trend all year. Had a few iso-Joe moments, but they worked, so: wheeeeeeeeeee!

Gerald Wallace SMALL FORWARD

Without even discussing his impact defensively -- he's such a smart rotator, certainly the best and most versatile of the starters -- Wallace is a key part to the Nets screen/flex offense, because unlike anyone else on the floor, he's strong enough to set hard screens on anyone but still talented enough that opposing defenses have to respect both his perimeter, interior, and dribble-drive game. Once he sets a screen on a pick-and-roll, the Nets have a wealth of options, and they don't even need him scoring to reap the benefits -- they'd just reap them a lot more if he was...

Brook Lopez CENTER

Detonated all over Tyler "I Am A Bad Defender" Zeller in the first 24 minutes to the tune of 21 points an six rebounds on 9-10 shooting in the half. Really impressive passing the ball for the second straight game, even if the assist totals again don't show it. Curiously enough, the team didn't go to him much in the second half, only really utilizing him in the fourth quarter, when he drew enough fouls to keep the lead apart. Unstoppable offense, another double-digit rebounding game... Sure, it's against the Varejao-less Cavs, but seems like he's at full strength, no?

Andray Blatche POWER FORWARD

Andray Blatche played point center, worked a two-man game with Reggie Evans, and it worked Andray Blatche botched a spin move off the dribble and the ball somehow ended up in Gerald Wallace's hands for an uncontested layup. Andray Blatche hit a corner 3 for no reason. Andray Blatche stood and stared as Cavaliers drove to the rim with reckless abandon. Andray Blatche went up for a jumper, decided to pass out of the jumper at the peak, had no one to pass to, dropped the ball next to him, and NO ONE -- on either team -- picked it up for five seconds until he did for the gimme travel call. The Andray Blatche Experience is incredibly fun to watch for every reason it's hair-raisingly terrifying. I hope he never ages.

Keith Bogans SHOOTING GUARD

I said it after last night's game and I'll say it again: the starting lineup just seems to flow better when he's in the game. It helps that he's hitting his threes nowadays.

MarShon Brooks SHOOTING GUARD

Got some free minutes in the second quarter, and while he's still having trouble knocking down that floater, did hit one open jumper after creating a possession with a sneaky hustle steal.

Reggie Evans POWER FORWARD

Nets went to a traditional lineup with Evans at the 4 and Lopez at the 5 and it paid off handsomely; Evans put in a putback at the rim, defended the pick-and-roll well, pushed opposing players when refs weren't looking (I probably shouldn't be okay with that), hit free throws, and snared a couple of steals, including one that he took downcourt in transition all by himself and drew a blocking foul on.

Jerry Stackhouse SHOOTING GUARD

JERRY STACKHOUSE HITS TURNAROUND SPIN JUMPERS IN HIS SLEEP SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO. JERRY STACKHOUSE OWNS A RECORD STORE CALLED "JERRY'S STEAKHOUSE" THAT HOUSES EVERY MEMPHIS BLEEK ALBUM EVER RECORDED SO NO ONE EVER HAS TO HEAR THEM AGAIN. JERRY STACKHOUSE EATS OPEN THREES FOR BREAKFAST AND BURPS FEAR. JERRY STACKHOUSE LOOKS LIKE A SKELETON WHICH ONLY HELPS HIM GET LADIES WHEN HE'S HANGING OUT WITH POPEYE JONES. JERRY STACKHOUSE INVENTED THE GANGNAM STYLE DANCE, THE BACKBOARD, AND THE FACE MASK TRISTAN THOMPSON WORE THAT MADE HIM LOOK LIKE A CONFUSED BANK ROBBER. KEEP ON, JERRY STACKHOUSE. KEEP ON.


 

Brook Lopez went to town on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first quarter, dropping 15 points on 7-8 shooting. After one midrange jumper, Lopez pounded the Cavs inside for all of his field goals. Take a look.

 

Grade the Game at any time!

The 15-14 Brooklyn Nets look to make it two in a row, and they couldn't have picked a better second half of a back-to-back, as the 7-24 Cleveland Cavaliers touch down in Brooklyn.

Projected Starters:
Cleveland Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Alonzo Gee, Tristan Thompson, Tyler Zeller
Brooklyn Nets: Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Keith Bogans, Gerald Wallace, Brook Lopez

Advanced Statistics
Cleveland Cavaliers: 97.4 offensive rating (29th), 105.8 defensive rating (27th), 94.40 possessions per game (14th)
Brooklyn Nets: 103.1 offensive rating (11th), 103.6 defensive rating (21st), 90.14 possessions per game (29th)

Three Things to Watch

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Kris Humphries will not play for the fourth straight game and the third since the team revealed his mild abdominal strain, interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said before tonight's game against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Carlesimo added that he doesn't expect Humphries back immediately, but it shouldn't take long before his return. "I think it's going to be a couple of days," Carlesimo added. "They (Humphries & Nets trainer Tim Walsh) both seem confident that it's very short-term, and when he comes back, he'll be able to go. ... Probably his first practice will be in San Antonio New Year's Day. I think when he comes back, he'll be okay."

Additionally, rookie small forward Tornike Shengelia is active after missing Friday night's game with flu-like symptoms. "I don't know what Tim (Walsh) called it, but he looked awful last night," Carlesimo joked.

 

Check out the advanced box score from last night's Nets-Bobcats game here.

Some brief thoughts:

  • Outside of Gerald Wallace, a cursory look at the offensive ratings of each starter kind of gives you an idea of how the Nets turned this one into a blowout by the half. In particular, Keith Bogans' offensive efficiency is what happens when you score nine points on three shots.

  • Also encouraging: Brook Lopez's 24.7% rebound rate, pushing his season rebound rate to 14.7%, the highest it's been since he was a rookie and 29th among 51 qualified NBA centers.

  • As an NBA fan, just looking at the Charlotte side of the box score -- all of it -- makes me sad. The Nets just demolished them.

 

Luckily for Brooklyn, only one of these guys is playing tonight. (AP)

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Refusing to settle: the Nets won last night's game by getting here. (AP)

Whether or not you agree with how quickly Avery Johnson got the axe, whether you think it was warranted or fair or not, whether you think this was an easy setup for a victory against the hapless Bobcats, the Nets played more effective basketball than they have this entire month last night. The Nets have given up massive double-digit leads all month. They barely beat the Raptors and Pistons. They haven't had a true blowout victory in December. No NBA team -- not even the Bobcats -- is a guarantee for that.

They did, and despite the team's insistence that nothing had changed, something had.

It's only one game, and it's only one game against one of the worst teams in the NBA, a team that had dropped 16 straight. A wild overreaction to one game is foolhardy, particularly one the Nets performed to expectation, dominating from opening tip to final buzzer, leading by as much as 29 and never relinquishing double digits in the second half.

So, in the spirit of being a fan, allow me to wildly overreact to last night's proceeding... MORE →

 

Brook Lopez Shot Chart Art

Posted on: December 28th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 1 Comment

 

This is what a Brook Lopez shot chart should look like, all day, every day... MORE →