In a game that the Brooklyn Nets did not play their starters in crunch time, where Tyson Chandler left the game after the first 44 seconds, the bench mob led the team back from a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit, but a failed MarShon Brooks isolation late led to the two most exciting words in sports: PRESEASON OVERTIME! In an overtime where neither team played a starter for a single second, the Nets fought to the wire, losing on a missed MarShon Brooks contested layup (another isolation).
As is preseason standard, here is your powered-down Net Worth.
Deron Williams: Came out firing — hit three threes and scored 12 total in the first quarter Looked very good — at times out of control but matched Felton’s burgeoning intensity. Grade: A
Joe Johnson: Quiet, efficient night. Had some fun early action playing off Deron Williams as they ran screen plays for one another, and bullied his way in the post when he had the matchup advantage (which he should have often next Thursday). Grade: B
Gerald Wallace: If you were perhaps in the mood to judge Nets players on the loosely defined intangible quality of giving a crap for every conceivable second, chances are you’d take Gerald Wallace first and not a soul would blame you. He runs, bumps, cuts, dives, jumps, and scrapes. He boards, passes, and controls anarchy. Didn’t have the best shooting night, but impossible to complain about his effort. Grade: A-
Kris Humphries: Played more into his role offensively tonight — didn’t force the issue, just caught passes for easy shots. Still a non-factor defensively. Grade: B-
Brook Lopez: Looked better defensively than in any game in preseason, in that he looked average. Contested an awful lot of shots and forced more floaters and off-balance j’s than layups. Didn’t really score much, though he did nail two quick shots on two possessions at the beginning of the third quarter. Only one rebound, so there’s… that… thing. Grade: C+
Tyshawn Taylor: Great shooting in the fourth quarter, but lost the touch late in overtime. Can’t really fault him for that. Can’t hurt to have a backup hitting jumpers off curl screens. Grade: B+
MarShon Brooks: Only really useful when he’s scoring, and until the end, he didn’t really score. He’s developed an oddball tendency to try to create too much off the dribble — so much that he’ll (dare I say it) pump-fake out of open shots and dribble into contested ones. He’s Mirza Teletovic’s antithesis in that sense, as Mirza would bring another basketball onto the court just so he can shoot two at the same time. Worth noting that he did hit two big shots late — a putback, and more importantly, a fast break lean-sprawl and-one layup to put the Nets up 2 with a minute left. But in the aggregate, he’s had better nights. Grade: D
Andray Blatche: The ultimate Andray Blatche sequence: He threw a hook shot off the side of the backboard, then followed it up with a steal and a tight spin cycle off the dribble, passing into a foul. The Andray Blatche Experience, in a nutshell. Attacked the glass, but didn’t shoot well and didn’t defend well enough to offset that difference. Grade: C-
