He's not wrong. (AP)
After the Brooklyn Nets picked up a 104-93 victory over the Boston Celtics, marking their first winning streak of the season, Nets forward Kevin Garnett was asked to describe the mood in the team's locker room compared to in November (when the team started the season 5-12), and the fierce Garnett wouldn't hold his tongue.
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Acquiring Kevin Garnett (center) and Paul Pierce (right) has not paid dividends in Brooklyn. (AP)
The Nets made colossal moves this summer expected to alter the Eastern Conference landscape, acquiring future Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce from the Boston Celtics and transforming their lineup into a potential championship contender.
So far, that hasn't worked out.... MORE →
The biggest battle between these two may be a war of words. (AP)
Kevin Garnett: 36 FG%, 6.5 PPG, 1.9 APG, 7.5 RPG, 0.9 SPG, 0.9 BPG, 1.3 TPG, 22.7 MPG
Kenyon Martin: 53 FG%, 3.7 PPG, 1.7 APG, 4.3 RPG, 0.7 SPG, 0.7 BPG, 0.4 TPG, 17.9 MPG
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It's just one game, so it's too soon to say that Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Garnett is "back." But boy, did Kevin Garnett look good last night. His stat sheet wasn't eye-popping -- eight points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block in 28 minutes of play -- but as the Nets wanted from the 37-year-old forward, his impact went beyond the numbers. Garnett hit a few big midrange shots down the stretch, showcased his classic "goaltend the shot after the foul" move, broadcasted his trademark intensity on both ends of the floor, and talked center Brook Lopez through a rough stretch in the first quarter on the bench.
Garnett also hit shots when the Nets needed it. After the team dealt with a rough third quarter and a double-digit lead cut down to two in the fourth, Garnett played the entire fourth quarter, hitting two jumpers and anchoring the defense with Brook Lopez. On a team that's lacked a communicator over the last two seasons, Garnett's got to fill his role and produce a solid effort night in and night out. Saturday night may have been the first time he put that all together in one game.
See that chart above? That's a visualization of the career PER arc of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, the former Boston Celtics that the Brooklyn Nets traded for this offseason in the hopes of erasing their spacing and defensive issues that doomed them last season. But both Garnett and Pierce have stumbled out of the gate, and even though a decline isn't unexpected (Pierce is 36 years old and Garnett 37), this type of decline is stunning and immediate.
PER is one of those all-encompassing stats that doesn't tell the full story, but it's safe to say this is an accurate representation of how badly these two new Nets have looked this year. The Nets currently sit at 4-12 and 13th in the Eastern Conference, ahead of only the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks.
If you don't see the visualization above, refresh the page. If that doesn't work, click here for the non-interactive image.
Dwight Howard (AP)
At 4-11, the Brooklyn Nets aren't very good. They're at the bottom of the NBA in defensive efficiency and their offense isn't much better. Three players skipped the team's two-game road trip with injuries, and a fourth missed seven straight games heading into tonight.
Here's three things to watch on the floor that aren't soda as they take on the 11-5 Houston Rockets.
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With under ten seconds left, the game within one possession, and the Nets out of timeouts, rookie coach Jason Kidd pulled a veteran move, instructing second-year guard Tyshawn Taylor to run into him and spill his drink to cause a stoppage in play. The stoppage allowed the Nets (and Lakers) to huddle up and draw up one final play despite not having an official time-out.
So what did Kidd take the risk for?
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Nikola Pekovic and the Minnesota Timberwolves downed the Nets 111-81. (AP)
Kevin Garnett was his usual eloquent self speaking with reporters after Friday night's loss, the first of his career to his former team.
"We created this monster, and we have to deal with it," Garnett said after the team's embarrassing 111-81 loss at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that gave him a video tribute and a standing ovation honoring his twelve years of service in Minneapolis from 1995 to 2007.
"What you gonna do, you gonna quit? Quitting is not an option. … None of us got this far by quitting."
But there were moments last night where that didn't seem to be the case.
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Brooklyn Nets small forward Paul Pierce has been teammates with Kevin Garnett since the summer of 2007, and knows him about as well as anyone. That's why when Pierce calls him the most selfless teammate ever, it's not the words of an under-informed outsider: it's from someone that's spent years in close quarters with Garnett.
Unfortunately, Garnett's selflessness hasn't turned into production: though he's gladly taken a step back in Brooklyn's offense to allow other players to shine, he's shooting a career-low 34.1% from the field and not producing his usual defensive impact. But if the Nets hope to turn it around, it all starts with Garnett, the epicenter of this team's championship hopes and culture change.
The Nets couldn't stop LaMarcus Aldridge and the Trail Blazers Monday night. (AP)
The box score is here, if you hate yourself.
Five final thoughts:
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