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DeShawn Stevenson, SG 23 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 PTS | +3
I appreciated DeShawn Stevenson’s defense tonight. I like him in the lineup a lot more when he doesn’t take many shots — like one per game — and just shuts down his opponent. Today was one of those days. He was tight on Paul in the first and Butler the rest of the night, and I enjoyed that very much. |
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Kris Humphries, PF 37 MIN | 3-11 FG | 6-6 FT | 11 REB | 4 AST | 12 PTS | -7
I’m not going to sit here and pretend that Humphries won the Hump/Griffin matchup tonight, because he certainly didn’t. However, anyone who saw the game can attest to how much fun that was to watch. Hump and Blake were exchanging dunks back and forth, blocked and contested shots, pushes, shoves — even a technical foul a piece. Griffin definitely played better, but Hump provided an entertaining battle in the paint, even if his stats don’t totally show it. |
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Shelden Williams, PF 41 MIN | 3-4 FG | 9-11 FT | 10 REB | 1 AST | 15 PTS | +6
Defensive MVP of the game, easily. The Jordan/Williams matchup should have been a total nightmare, but it actually wasn’t bad. Williams was aggressive in the paint all night — diving for lose balls and going head-to-head with Jordan and Griffin on the glass. His defensive performance was even more evident the second Petro took the floor and screwed everything up. Like Hump, a game where the stats don’t tell the story. His only bad play was that foul on Paul with 8 seconds left. But that worked out. |
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Deron Williams, PG 41 MIN | 7-17 FG | 5-7 FT | 6 REB | 10 AST | 21 PTS | +1
Great numbers, but I thought his play was a little frustrating. Distributed all night — especially to Brooks in the first half and to his big men in the second — and shot the ball pretty well. However, D-Will took way too many threes, which simply wasn’t necessary with the way Brooks, Morrow and Farmar were playing. On nights where his teammates are actually supporting him, I’d like to see him distribute first. Hump and Shelden could have scored more if Deron passed, instead of missing six threes. Having said that, great look to Farmar for the game-winner and anticipating that double team. |
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MarShon Brooks, G 34 MIN | 8-13 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 19 PTS | 0
First half: 14 points, 2-3 from behind the arc, including an insane last-second buzzer shot with two Clips on him. After that, he disappeared. Still, a great shooting performance, solid on the fast break and in transition. He did your standard Brooks defensive day, but we can forgive that. He didn’t take too many bad shots either, which is fine by me. |
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Jordan Farmar, PG 19 MIN | 6-11 FG | 1-2 FT | 0 REB | 3 AST | 16 PTS | +4
Game-winning shot removes all the dumb shots he took during the game. He absolutely nailed that open three and provided one of the best moments of the season. Farmar was ready to go the second he came in the game and played with a lot of energy off the bench. Also, he had a nice second quarter as well, and thew a Gerald Green oop. And who doesn’t love Gerald Green oops? |
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Anthony Morrow, SG 17 MIN | 4-8 FG | 4-5 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 14 PTS | +3
Shot the ball well early, but quieted down in the second half. I think he would have had more points had D-Will distributed to him more, but it is what it is. |
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Gerald Green, SG 9 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | -3
Gerald Green is exciting no doubt, but I’m not sure what he does besides finish alley-oops. The Nets are still in dire need of a small forward. But still, I’ll give a shoutout to Lob Suburbs. |
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Johan Petro, C 18 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | 0
Nothing to say, let’s move on. |
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Five Things We Saw
- So let’s get this straight: Nets take on the Clippers in Newark, highlighting marquee stars such as Deron Williams, Chris Paul, and Blake Griffin — complete with an excellent point guard battle. So who was the PG on the game? Jordan Farmer — the Nets back up. You gotta love it. Farmar was nothing but energy as soon as he took the court and that game-winning shot was one of the most exciting moments of the Nets’ season. It’s also interesting because Farmar is a guy no one really talks that much about, unless it’s in O.J. Mayo trade rumors. So, to see him hit a major shot in a game against one of the league’s best is pretty awesome.
- Is there a more up-and-down team in the NBA than the Nets? They are either getting completely blown out with no one showing up, or winning close-to-not-close games against playoff caliber teams. It’s hard to believe that this team blew out the Bulls and the Knicks, got blown out by Miami and Orlando and won by a point against Dallas and the Clippers — all in a seven-game span.
- The Nets’ fourth quarter was pretty horrible. 3-16 from the field, while trying to maintain a double-digit lead is not the most efficient way to defeat Lob City. It was pretty remarkable that the Nets managed to pull this one out, especially given the fact that the players on the floor for the Clippers were much better than the players on the floor for the Nets during that last minute when the score was tied. A+ effort all around.
- I talked about this in Humphries’ grade, but, other than the Farmar shot, the story of the game was Humphries/Griffin. I’m not sure why, but those two hate each other. And it’s awesome. They just battled all night long and it was so great to watch. Griffin came out victorious with the numbers, but Humphries played him very aggressively like he always does. For those two to win Matchup of the Game when Paul and Williams were on the court definitely says a lot.
- The Nets had everything going against them: at home, wearing their “winless” throwbacks and going against an away team that, at least what appeared on TV, was cheered for by at least 50% of the audience. For them to come out with a win is huge, but the real story is how they will follow this up. The Nets have Charlotte next on Friday, where the Cats will likely be out for blood due to the 57-point performance of D-Will on Sunday. On to the next one.
