The Nets haven’t made a lot of comebacks this season, which made this afternoon’s game all too surprising: after their requisite third-quarter collapse, the Nets clawed back on the backs of their new starting center and one of their backup guards, turning a double-digit deficit into a slight victory.
The Nets have a lot to build on from this game, good and bad: their interior defense struggled at times to contain the Celtics, who are not particularly great inside. They struggled to convert from outside, outside of Alan Anderson. They nearly allowed the Celtics to tie the game at the end of regulation, somehow allowing Gerald Wallace to throw a pinpoint 92-foot pass and give Jared Sullinger a clean look at the rim.
A win’s a win, and a comeback win on the road is sweet, with a fun, heart-stopping ending. Now time to build tomorrow vs. the Indiana Pacers.
Brook Lopez
C-
The stats: 8 PTS, 4-7 FG, 1 REB
Made his entrance into the game a little sooner than Wednesday night, and struggled again, hitting a couple of mid-range jumpers and one post-up move, otherwise looking uninvolved on both ends of the floor.
There’s a lack of aggression on his part that’s alarming. It’s not systemic, either: this is the same guy that got easy buckets game after game not two seasons ago, and was developing into a solid rim protector before his foot injury cut him down.
Lopez did make his one rebound — an offensive board that he threw back in for a reverse — count, but grabbing just one rebound is indicative of a bigger issue.