“They came out with a lot of energy,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said of the Bulls. “We had a lot of break downs. (We gave up) too many points in the paint. So we just got off to a slow start. We found out right before the game that MarShon wasn’t going to be able to go and we had to make some adjustments to our lineup.”
In his pregame media briefing, Johnson had talked about starting the same lineup for five straight games — which would have been a high for this season. Instead, he had to insert Anthony Morrow to Brooks’ shooting guard spot.
“It’s a bit of a shock” to find out Brooks was unable to play, Deron Williams said. “He’s a big part of what we’ve been doing, and our success. But we’ve been dealing with injuries all season, so it was just a matter of guys stepping up.”
Colin Stephenson, The Star-Ledger — Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls top Nets, 110-95, as MarShon Brooks is a late scratch
Left in the aftermath of Brooks’ condition Monday night was another ugly loss, as the Nets again fell behind early to the Bulls and lost a game, 110-95, that underscored their unfortunate predicament: they are banged up, they are tired and they are undersized.
“You know the answer to that,” Avery Johnson said when asked why the Nets haven’t improved. “I don’t know what else to say. Just when we get excited about having the same lineup, a guy goes out 20 minutes before the game.
“It’s just something that we’re dealing with. It’s something I have to manage. Coaching is not just during the game or practices or shootaround, you have to be ready to just adjust — and this year, like I’ve been telling you from Day 1 in our first press conference: it’s an unusual year with unusual circumstances. I didn’t know the unusual circumstances would have our name in it quite so much. I didn’t know Brook Lopez was going to break his foot. So we’ll just have to keep going. But I thought our guys tried.”
Stefan Bondy, New York Daily News — NJ Nets, playing without rookie MarShon Brooks fall to Derrick Rose and Chicago Bulls, Jordan Farmar leads team with 22 points
D-League signee Larry Owens was called on to play 28 minutes and 42 seconds and acquitted himself well, coach Avery Johnson said after the Nets’ 110-95 loss to the Bulls tonight.
Owens, who signed with the team last Wednesday, finished with seven points, six rebounds and two assists.
“He made a 3, ran the floor really well, got us in some of our offense when we needed to play our point guards off the ball,” Johnson said of Owens. “So he did OK. And right now, we’re going to need him.”Colin Stephenson, The Star-Ledger — Nets’ Brook Lopez makes first road trip since foot injury
• Deron Williams rose (pun totally intended) to the occasion on Monday night, scoring 16 points on an efficient 7-for-14 shooting while dishing out 10 assists. He disappeared in the fourth quarter, though, perhaps because he was dead tired. In all, he played 106 minutes over the last three nights.
• Jordan Farmar continues to play his best basketball as a Net. On Monday night, he scored a team-high 22 points in 32 minutes. Maybe he doesn’t need the triangle offense to be successful after all — especially when he’s attacking the rim like he has of late.
Mike Mazzeo, ESPN New York — Quick Hits: Bulls 110, Nets 95
Each time the Nets fell behind though there was always one reason to keep watching them play. That reason was MarShon Brooks. The rookie has real talent . Not only can he create his own shot and score, but he’s a nifty passer and he has long arms which helps him get rebounds, and occasionally block shots and make steals.
The other night, Brooks flipped a behind the back pass to Kris Humphries leading to an easy dunk for Humphries. Even if the Nets are losing that kind of play is worth watching.
Without Marshon Brooks last night the Nets were hard to watch vs the Bulls. Deron Williams had a decent game, scoring 16 points and dishing out 10 assists. Jordan Farmer came off the bench to score 22 points, but the Nets, who were playing their third game in three days, never once really threatened the Bulls in the game.
Joe Dorish, Yahoo! Sports Contributor Network — Without Rookie MarShon Brooks New Jersey Nets Are Barely Watchable: Fan’s View
And so the commonplace occurred last night — the Nets again were capsized by A) their own slow start or B) the other team’s fast start. The Bulls took control and opened it up early by double figures and never led by less than 12 in the second half as they overcame some injuries of their own and ran their record to 16-3 with a 110-95 yawner over the Nets at United Center.
“I thought we played well,” said Deron Williams (16 points, 10 assists). “This is a good team and given the circumstances of the back-to-back-to-back, the third night, we knew it was going to be a tough one. They had everybody back in the lineup and you could just tell this is a contender. So I thought we played well in spurts, and spots — we also played bad in spots.”
Fred Kerber, New York Post — Nets lose to Bulls
