The long and bitter rivalry between Paul Pierce and LeBron James just got a little bit better. Midway through the 4th quarter, LeBron was caught off guard and got his shot thrown back by Pierce. The Nets had a 10-point lead at the time with around 5 minutes to go in the fourth.
In a game that ended with a score of 101-100, every basket counts.
Brooklyn's home opener is tonight. (AP)
It's finally here. The Brooklyn Nets take on the Miami Heat in the team's home opener at Barclays Center, marking the first time that Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry, Andrei Kirilenko, Alan Anderson, and Shaun Livingston step on Barclays's herringbone-patterned floor in the regular season as members of the Brooklyn Nets.
Because of that, because of the monumental nature of this game, with the defending champion Miami Heat as opponents, here's a position-by-position breakdown of tonight's matchup. Let this serve not only as a guide to tonight, but a brief on how the teams match up overall throughout the season -- and, hopefully, in the playoffs.
We also compare how the players have looked in head-to-head matchups, and break down their middle names, because The Brooklyn Game has analysis you just can't get anywhere else.
Speaking with reporters Saturday night, Miami Heat forward LeBron James says he'll most likely sit Friday night when the Brooklyn Nets travel to Miami to face the Heat in their final preseason game.
Dwyane Wade sat Thursday night when the two teams met in Brooklyn, but LeBron played in the 86-62 Nets victory.
James says his rest is simply maintenance and not injury-related. The teams match up in the regular season for the first time on November 1st, Brooklyn's home opener.
Paul Pierce, LeBron James shared comments on Pierce's past. (AP)
Former Boston Celtics and current Brooklyn Nets Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce came under fire from the Miami Heat's LeBron James this week. James called the two hypocritical for criticizing Ray Allen for leaving Boston for Miami in the summer of 2012, then leaving Boston themselves a year later.
"I think the first thing I thought was, 'Wow, Ray got killed for leaving Boston, and now these guys are leaving Boston,'" was James's exact quote. "I think it's OK; I didn't mind it. But there were a couple guys who basically s--- on Ray for leaving, and now they're leaving."
Garnett and Pierce were asked about James's comments after the 86-62 Nets victory last night over the Heat, and both responded about how you'd expect.... MORE →
The Brooklyn Nets are all in -- they want to win a championship this season. In order to accomplish such a feat, they'll almost assuredly have to go through the reigning back-to-back champions of the NBA, the Miami Heat. So let's now take a look at exactly how the new-look Nets stack up with the King James and his crew from Miami.
Last season, the Nets and their fans (and Reggie Evans) thought they had an outside shot to compete with Miami. As the three regular season matchups showed us, that was far from the truth as the Nets lost those three games by a combined 63 points.
But things have changed and with the Nets new additions this off-season, many believe that they've inched closer to Miami's level. The first thing we'll look at will be each team's respective off-season additions and subtractions:
Brooklyn:
[Key] Additions - Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Terry, Andrei Kirilenko, Shaun Livingston, Mason Plumlee, Jason Kidd, Lawrence Frank
[Key] Subtractions - Gerald Wallace, C.J. Watson, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, Keith Bogans, Jerry Stackhouse, Kris Joseph, Avery Johnson, P.J. Carlesimo
Miami:
[Key] Additions - Jarvis Varnado, James Ennis
[Key] Subtractions - Mike Miller... MORE →
After the questionable and seemingly inflammatory comments made by Reggie Evans about LeBron James and the defending champion Miami Heat before Wednesday night’s blowout, Evans was nowhere to be found in the Nets’ locker room after the game. So this morning when he was interviewed on SiriusXM radio, he attempted to clarify what he had or hadn’t said the previous day.
Here are his follow-up comments on the radio as quoted by Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com/newyork in his story from this afternoon... MORE →
Reggie Evans found himself mired in a bit of controversy last night. After comparing Miami Heat forward LeBron James to teammates Joe Johnson and Andray Blatche, saying that he was "no different" from those two, he added that the Heat's championship wasn't a "real" championship because it occurred during a lockout season.
James responded with a LeBronian 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists in a blowout victory over the Nets, and had some sharp words for Evans after the game... MORE →
In his first game against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center, LeBron James disappointed Nets fans who wanted to see a Brooklyn victory, finishing the game with 24 points on 10-18 shooting, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals in 34 minutes and leading the Miami Heat to a 105-85 victory.
James did it all: attacking the basket, hitting from outside, finding open teammates, running the floor against the slower Brooklyn starters, and proving again why he's the best player in the world.
Watch:
LeBron James, in response to Brooklyn Nets forward Reggie Evans' quotes from earlier today that the Heat aren't "real" champions because their championship came in a lockout season, and that defending LeBron is no different than defending Joe Johnson or Andray Blatche:
LeBron's reaction to Reggie Evans running his mouth: "Who?" "Reggie Evans.""Exactly."
— Joseph Goodman (@JoeGoodmanJr) January 30, 2013
LeBron James spoke out against how the Brooklyn Nets played under Avery Johnson, saying that it "sucks" that Avery had to get the axe when his team didn't "want to play at a high level."
LeBron's full quote, from the New York Daily News, after the jump... MORE →
LeBron James: NBA Champion, NBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP, Olympic Gold Medalist, and just another guy, according to Brooklyn Nets starting power forward Reggie Evans. From the New York Daily News:... MORE →
