Dominant second half leads to Brooklyn win over Atlanta

A-

Final: 12/04/2017

W 110 90

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Photo courtesy YES Network

Nothing like a 17-0 run and a season-high 29-point lead to bounce back in a home-and-home matchup. A night of highlights for Brooklyn resulted in a 110-90 win over the Atlanta Hawks on the road, improving the team’s record to 9-14 on the season.

What was a competitive and relatively even-matched first half turned into Brooklyn Nets domination in the second half. The entire rotation was clicking, with six different Nets reaching double figures. 

Rook Jarrett Allen was a star, reaching a near-career-high 11 points after reaching his career-high 12 points Saturday, but Nets fans came for the dunks and they stayed for the dunks. They came for the four blocks, too. And the three-pointer. Am I missing anything, Jarrett?

After recording 19 turnovers in Saturday’s game with the Hawks, the Nets outdid themselves tonight. They committed 23 turnovers, which the Hawks scored 23 off of and essentially kept them in the game through the first half.

The Nets went on 17-0 and 10-0 runs throughout the second half to reach a lead as large as 29, and those were done with just five three-pointers made through the final two quarters. Brooklyn was able to share the ball and record a season-high 30 assists on 41 field goals made, all while shooting 48.2 percent from the field. 

The Hawks were outscored 31-15 by Brooklyn in the third quarter, the team’s largest point differential in a game this season. 

Brooklyn did a lot of its damage in the paint as well, recording a 40-30 advantage over the Hawks. Caris LeVert’s passes to Allen in the paint can be to thank for that number as well. 

After dominating in the first half and hitting his first seven shots, Dennis Schroeder cooled off a bit in the second, making just two of his last 10 shots. The Nets figured out how to not give him the easy looks, as he scored with 19 points on the night. 

Overall, following the loss to the Hawks on Saturday, this was a much-needed win and confidence booster for Brooklyn. It also seemed like the team and fans alike were having a good amount of fun. The energy was there tonight when on Saturday it was not. 

The game ended a little sloppily with some turnovers and letting Atlanta go on a 12-0 run. Energy guys like Trevor Booker brought the aggression and made sure the team ended on a high note.

Next up, the Nets travel to Mexico City for a matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, Dec. 7. That’s a 10 p.m. start time for us here on the east coast, but the Mexico City experience awaits.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

A-

The stats: 16 PTS, 6-14 FG, 1-3 3FG, 3-3 FT, 9 REB, 2 AST, 3 TOV, 2 STL, 1 BLK, 29 MIN

Nearly posting a double-double, RHJ was on the court for most of Brooklyn’s biggest runs. He had some nifty plays despite not getting all of his shots to go down.

The longest-tenured Net is showing he can do the little things while on the court to lead his team to success. 

DeMarre Carroll

B+

The stats: 13 PTS, 4-10 FG, 3-5 3FG, 2-2 FT, 8 REB, 4 AST, 3 TOV, 28 MIN

Carroll performed well against his former team today, draining three from distance as his team rolled through the second half. He didn’t have some of the biggest highlights of the night, but he maintained his X-factor role. 

Spencer Dinwiddie

B+

The stats: 13 PTS, 5-10 FG, 3-6 3PT, 5 REB, 6 AST, 0 TOV, 30 MIN

The man with the lowest assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA continued his ways tonight, recording six assists to zero turnovers. That’s good for his 10th straight game with 6+ assists. Talk about consistency, even though he looked like he was on fumes a bit tonight.

His back-to-back three-pointers also helped Brooklyn get going in the early stages of the game. Caris LeVert was the main guy on the floor during Brooklyn’s 17-0 run, but Dinwiddie still found ways to impact the game in a positive way. 

Assists, assists everywhere. Team ball is what it’s about with these two guards at the helm, and it worked tonight. 

Allen Crabbe

B

The stats: 8 PTS, 3-8 FG, 2-6 3PM, 4 REB, 2 AST, 2 TOV, 1 STL, 23 MIN

How about that show of emotion from Crabbe after a no-call late in the game? He rocketed the ball across the court and hit the opposite shot clock, earning him a technical and fouling him out of the game. I’ve never seen him show such aggression before, but if Shaun Livingston can do it, I guess Crabbe can too. 

Crabbe seemed frustrated all night with the calls he was getting (or not getting), but he still found ways to contribute. Even though Crabbe played his part in Brooklyn’s runs, the fact that the Nets were able to produce 110 points without Crabbe at his A-game is a good sign.