Nets 88, Knicks 85: Advanced Box & Reaction

Check out the advanced box score from yesterday’s 88-85 Nets victory over the Knicks here.

Some brief takeaways:

  • If I told you before the game that one team would shoot 12-24 from 3 and the other would shoot 6-21, you would’ve said Knicks and Nets, respectively. Reality is fun.
  • Winning formula: in the Nets’ two victories over the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony shot under 50 percent (11-24 on November 26th, 11-29 yesterday afternoon). In the two Knicks victories, Anthony shot over 50 percent (15-24 on December 11th, 12-22 December 19th). The Nets employed a fun strategy early on yesterday, throwing unorthodox defenders at Anthony like Reggie Evans and Kris Humphries, who would play a step off Anthony when he had the ball 20 feet from the basket. When Anthony has that daylight, he sees a shot worth taking — and a midrange jumper is exactly the kind of shot you prefer him taking over a three-pointer or foray to the rim. Of Anthony’s 18 misses, 11 came from the short & long midrange areas, including the final 11-foot airball from the right corner over Gerald Wallace.

    Anthony also shot just 3-9 from within five feet, and didn’t make a layup in the second half.

  • Here’s why field goal percentage, as a standalone, is irrelevant: Joe Johnson shot nearly the same percentage as Anthony (8-20), but hit five three-pointers & all four of his free throws, giving him nine extra points and an efficient .574 true shooting percentage & .525 effective field goal percentage. Anthony hit six free throws but just one three, giving him an true shooting percentage of .458 and effective field goal percentage of .397.

  • The Nets won this game even while only forcing five Knicks turnovers and turning the ball over 19 times themselves. They were a +5 in offensive rebounds despite having far fewer missed shots to chase — mostly because they turned the ball over so much!

  • Brook Lopez’s rebound rate of 17.2% is higher than any Knicks player in yesterday’s game.
  • After tearing the Nets limb from limb in two of the matchups between these two teams, Tyson Chandler had an oddly ineffective game — he didn’t terrorize the Nets near the rim, didn’t abuse the Nets in the pick-and-roll, and ended with just four field goal attempts to one technical foul.