Five final thoughts on last night’s Suns-Nets extravaganza:
- One telling stat: the Suns had 14 fast-break points in the first quarter, and just 11 for the rest of the game, including overtime. Outside of the team’s dreadful first quarter, that was probably the most fun a Nets game has been since the victory over the Miami Heat. The team looked great in the final three quarters, finding players in a position to score and getting defensive stops against athletic players like Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic.
- Make no mistake about it: Shaun Livingston looks like an starting-caliber point guard. It’s stupid to look at plus-minus numbers in the 15 minutes this season Livingston shared the floor with the team’s four starters, so I won’t. (But you can.) Livingston looks comfortable running the offense, has had no issues getting into the paint and creating for others, and is long enough to play disruptive defense. Additionally, Tyshawn Taylor played some good minutes closing out the first half, not forcing any shots and ripping the ball on a drive to the basket for a steal (he ended with two steals). Even if Williams is sidelined for a bit, the Nets don’t look uncomfortable handing the ball to Livingston.
- For all the issues the Nets have had with turnovers this season, they turned the ball over four fewer times and recorded five more offensive rebounds than the Suns. That led to eight additional shot attempts and four more free throws, which helped the Nets win despite hitting eight less three-pointers. Possession pays.
- I’d be remiss not to mention that Mason Plumlee outplayed his brother in the first professional matchup between the two brothers, scoring more points on seven fewer shot attempts and hitting all three of his shots, including this dunk:
Both Plumlee brothers recorded five fouls, though Mason only needed 13 minutes to Miles’s 35.
- Okay, I think that was about it as far as interesting things that happened. Nope, nothing else. Seems pretty standa-JOE COOL DID IT AGAIN, Y’ALL.
