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DeShawn Stevenson, SG 15 MIN | 1-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 3 PTS | -21
How in the world do you airball a layup by three feet!? |
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Kris Humphries, PF 25 MIN | 2-4 FG | 2-4 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS | -32 Got smoked in coverage tonight, particularly from midrange. Limited Garnett in the post-up, but KG got enough spot-up looks that Humphries was too late recovering on for that to matter. Ineffectively irrelevant offensively. |
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Brook Lopez, C 35 MIN | 10-21 FG | 8-10 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 28 PTS | -8
Kept up his torrid scoring pace from Tuesday’s game against Dallas. Dropped 15 in the first half, and outside of the rare foray outside of the paint, kept his offense going towards the basket, rather than away from it. Good sign. Can’t defend stretch 4’s like Bass and Garnett, though; and the everyday issue of rebounding remains. |
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Deron Williams, PG 32 MIN | 4-9 FG | 4-5 FT | 2 REB | 8 AST | 12 PTS | -31
Scored well early. Had less turnovers than normal since Shelden Williams surprisingly caught some passes inside, but by the third quarter, none of it mattered. |
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MarShon Brooks, G 30 MIN | 4-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 11 PTS | -17
Turned the ball over three times in the span of 2 1/2 minutes, helping catapult Boston’s second-quarter run that defined the game. Other than garbage time tonight, he’s been oddly quiet these past two games, coinciding with Brook’s return to the lineup. Weird thing to keep an eye on. |
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Shelden Williams, PF 15 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 9 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | +4
Caught more passes than usual, but didn’t do anything with them. but like Lopez and Humphries, doesn’t have any lateral quickness necessary to guard midrange shooters. When your opponents are primarily Brandon Bass and Kevin Garnett, you’re getting torched. |
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Anthony Morrow, SG 21 MIN | 3-7 FG | 3-4 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 11 PTS | +9
The standard Morrow line: Hit a couple three-pointers, made his free throws, didn’t do much else. |
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Gerald Green, SG 26 MIN | 5-10 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 11 PTS | +5
Looked for his shot immediately. Then three insanely wonderful dunks that made me do things you’re technically not allowed to do on press row. Don’t tell anyone. Also, we’ve officially started the #StartGeraldGreen hashtag on Twitter. Make it happen, people. |
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Four Things We Saw
- Defining moment: The second quarter, when the Celtics’ full-court press unraveled the Nets completely. New Jersey couldn’t get the ball up court without serious issue and turned the ball over multiple times After the Nets got it as close as four, MarShon Brooks threw two passes away, dribbled a third ball off his foot, and the Nets couldn’t get a good shot off. The Nets didn’t score a field goal and turned it over five times in almost seven minutes.
- I have to look into this further, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Nets’ record against teams with stability at the top of their roster — particularly the Celtics — is poor. Very poor. (The Sixers overtime win being the exception). The Nets just rarely have a shot against Boston unless they get a shocking scoring punch from someone like MarShon Brooks and don’t lose their defensive assignments.
- Couple the turnovers with the poor shooting, and the Nets made just 12 field goals — half as many as the Celtics’ 24 — in the first half. It felt like less.
- Don’t let the under-20 point deficit final deceive you. This one was done long before the third quarter ended.
