 |
DeShawn Stevenson, SG 23 MIN | 0-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 PTS | -12
There’s nothing he did tonight that he hasn’t done as badly before. Didn’t affect the game in any significant way, except by missing shots. |
 |
 |
Shelden Williams, PF 30 MIN | 4-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 8 PTS | -13 Finished at the rim more than I’m use to seeing, and checked Howard better than Brook Lopez could. Still didn’t do much defensively, and some of Glen Davis’s torch job came at his expense. |
 |
 |
Brook Lopez, C 28 MIN | 7-16 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 15 PTS | -9
First of all, despite how the rest of the game went, the fact that Brook Lopez coming off a broken foot won a tip against a full-strength Dwight Howard is pretty unbelievable. The rest of the game was a nice return to reality; Brook relied on his jumper to space his own offense, and didn’t take many shots from within six feet. On the opposite side, the Magic made a concerted effort to attack him in the lane, and the result was a lot of layups and jumpers over his outstretched, grounded arm. All in all, could’ve done worse for his second game back against the best center in the world. |
 |
 |
Deron Williams, PG 36 MIN | 8-18 FG | 3-3 FT | 6 REB | 8 AST | 23 PTS | -18
Man, he really loves the third quarter. Scored 12 rapid-fire points in the first few minutes to cut the Magic lead to 8, off three threes and an and-1 when he caught Jameer Nelson off-balance arguing a traveling call. Still can’t do it all. Led the team in scoring until a late MarShon barrage, and a poor fourth quarter dipped into his efficiency. Can’t turn dirt into diamonds. |
 |
 |
MarShon Brooks, G 40 MIN | 10-15 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 24 PTS | -12
Played further off J.J. Redick than you’d like. Hit some contested jumpers, but in the long run, they’re still contested jumpers. If you’re shooting them with time on the shot clock, you’re hurting yourself long-term. Got a nice dunk in the half-court, though, and you really can’t complain about him making shots, even in garbage time. Without him and Deron Williams in the third quarter, a 17-point deficit could have been 37. |
 |
 |
Anthony Morrow, SG 23 MIN | 2-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | -9
He made a couple of shots, but didn’t get anything near the basket and didn’t make any threes. The Nets aren’t outshooting the Magic, not the way they’ve played lately. When Morrow’s shooting the long two-pointer, as he did often tonight, he’s limiting his own effectiveness. That’s only worsened by the fact that he’s missing them. |
 |
 |
Johan Petro, C 21 MIN | 3-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS | -7
If Johan Petro were a bad person, he wouldn’t be in the league. Hit back-to-back jumpers in garbage time to the delight of the crowd. |
|
Five Things We Saw
- On the one hand, I’m surprised we didn’t see more Jordan Williams tonight. On the other hand, Jordan Williams stopped defending Glen Davis when Davis was two feet from the basket and no one else was around to cover him. He, quite literally, moved away from Davis and let him shoot. So there’s that.
- From the beginning, Brook and Howard went at each other. As you’d expect, Howard won. D12 scored two quick dunks and didn’t appear fazed by any defense the Nets threw at him. Dwight appeared to be on autopilot for most of the night and still rose as the most effective player on the court — when Glen Davis wasn’t weirdly destroying it in the first quarter.
- The Nets had no answer for the pick-and-roll, though the Magic used that action and ball movement to get themselves open three-pointers. I honestly don’t think the Magic shot one contested three-pointer the entire game, and the Nets seemed to give up on defending it.
- I can’t confirm this immediately, but it appeared Avery Johnson and Jameer Nelson got into a bit of an argument after the Jameer Nelson travel that led to Deron Williams’s and-1.
- Brook Lopez challenged Dwight Howard in the post early on in the game, then moved further and further from the basket as the game progressed. By the fourth quarter, he wasn’t trying to score in the post at all. Somewhere between “one-game Dwight strategy” and “troubling trend.”
