Check out the advanced box score from last night’s 91-83 Brooklyn Nets victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves here.
Some brief takeaways:
- Brook Lopez had another game you’d like to see out of Brook Lopez: after his first shot — a face-up bank shot from about 13 feet — Lopez stayed in the paint and close to the rim almost exclusively against a team that only had one seven-footer, the foul-laden Greg Stiemsma. There are few players in the league that can adequately contain Lopez, and none of them play for Minnesota. Even in only 26 minutes, Lopez put up a game-high in points and pulled down more rebounds (at a better rate) than any individual Timberwolves player.
- Kris Humphries continues to play just a bit more like the Kris Humphries of old; his 1-5 shooting night notwithstanding, Humphries played a smarter overall game than we’ve been accustomed to seeing. One criticism: too often Humphries catches an offensive rebound, looks to power-dribble in traffic, and go back up with the shot when there are openings on the perimeter. With a lead (and really, even without one), time is your friend. Forcing shots comes at a cost.
- C.J. Watson had his best game in as long as I can remember and I’m pretty sure those words could apply exclusively to the fourth quarter. Watson drew five — count ’em, five — fouls on J.J. Barea in the first 4:24 of that fourth quarter, hit four of his five shots with Barea covering him, and had a little fun embellishing contact; after the game, Watson noted that Barea was a flopper and he wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. Who would’ve thought that C.J. Watson and J.J. Barea would share a common dislike for each other?
- Speaking of the point guards, going to echo, uh, myself from last night and say that Deron Williams played a 90% impeccable game last night. Took smart shots, chose good moments to drive and draw contact, and took advantage of a clearly unhealthy Ricky Rubio/clearly short J.J. Barea/clearly Luke Ridnour Luke Ridnour.
- I’m glad he’s doing well most of the time, but does it bother anyone else that Andray Blatche’s usage rate is in the high 20s almost every game?
- The Nets didn’t get a single point from any of their three backup shooting guards (Keith Bogans, Jerry Stackhouse, MarShon Brooks) in 30 combined minutes, and still won. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad sign.
