Check out the advanced box score from last night’s 111-93 Brooklyn Nets slaughterhouse here.
Some final thoughts:
I’ve already expounded on how unreal Reggie Evans was last night, but just a cursory look at the numbers: 37.8% total rebound percentage (40.6% on NBA.com — they’re slightly different because of how the two sites calculate possessions), about four times the league average. Over 35% both on offensive AND defensive rebounds. He had more rebounds than the entire Trail Blazers team in the first half (14-13) and nearly led them after three quarters (21 to the Blazers’ 22). It was his seventh 20-rebound game this season but also his season-high in assists and the seventh time he recorded more assists than turnovers.
So add it all up: A career high in rebounds, a season high in assists, a season high in points that tied his career high, and his highest field goal percentage with more than 7 attempts in a game? Yup, I’m comfortable saying that this was the best game of Reggie Evans’s career. The only shame is that he wasn’t around to do it in front of the fans in Brooklyn. Guess he’ll have to do it again.
Deron Williams had his quietest post-All Star Game performance yet, Joe Johnson didn’t play, and the Nets blew out their opponent by the first quarter. So that happened.
Though the road trip is only a minor indication, it appears that Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo has settled on a rotation, and Mirza Teletovic — who only entered the game in the fourth quarter, long after garbage time had kicked in — is not in it. Although the numbers will change when Joe Johnson returns and Reggie Evans doesn’t have the night of his life, you can figure how the Nets will use their minutes going forward: 35ish for Johnson & Williams, 30 for Lopez, 25-29 for Wallace & Evans, 15-20 for Blatche/Watson/Bogans, closer to 10-15 for Humphries/Brooks, and filling in the blanks with Stackhouse/Teletovic.
Another day, another 11 points on 7 field goal attempts and three corner threes for Keith Bogans. I’m not saying but I’m just saying.
It looks like Gerald Wallace finally threw some trash in the trash can. Since he called himself out for his complete inability to make a layup, Wallace has shot 70.6% in the restricted area and half of his attempts from within five feet. He’s still maddeningly unable to hit three-pointers above the corners, but baby steps, right?
Bears repeating: the Nets got 74 points in the paint last night, all from within five feet, and attempted more than double their season average from that area. 37 field goals on 58 attempts when your season average is 25.9 attempts per game? Solid way to win a game.
I’ll close on a pace note: the Nets average the second-slowest pace in the NBA, humming around 90 possessions per game, but last night’s game was closer to 95, according to NBA.com’s estimate, and that’s even considering the ridiculous amount of second chances they had to extend possessions. It’s a pace that would rank them 13th in the NBA. Maybe they are good when they run a bit more.
