The Brooklyn Nets take on the Orlando Magic on the second half of their ¡first! home-and-home of the season, after taking them to some kind of school on Friday night to the tune of 107-68. Here’s what you need to know going into today’s game.
The Who/What/Where/When: The Brooklyn Nets take on the Orlando Magic today (Sunday, November 11th), at Barclays Center at 3 P.M.
TV/Radio: Today’s game will be broadcast on YES Network and WBBR Radio.
Starters: With Crash out for the fourth straight game, the Brooklyn Nets will presumably start the same lineup as the previous three: Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Keith Bogans, Kris Humphries, and Brook Lopez. The Magic start E’Twaun Moore, J.J. Redick, Arron Afflalo, Glen Davis, and Nikola Vucevic. Moore was the Magic’s best player in Friday night’s game, shooting 4-6 from beyond the arc and finishing with 18 points.
Key reserves: For the Brooklyn Nets, Josh Childress should play after returning to the reserves Saturday night. MarShon Brooks will not play for the second straight game. The Nets have also given significant minutes to C.J. Watson (still great), Reggie Evans (still okay), and Andray Blatche (who had his best game Friday night against this Magic team). The Orlando Magic’s key backups include Josh “McBobs” McRoberts, Ish Smith, and rookie Andrew Nicholson, who scored 10 points on 4-4 shooting last night.
Four Factors:
Brooklyn Nets Offense (league rank): eFG% .502 (7th), TOV% 14.7 (19th), ORB% 28.0 (12th), FT/FGA .209 (16th)
Orlando Magic Offense (league rank): eFG% .472 (15th), TOV% 14.1 (11th), ORB% 25.5 (20th), FT/FGA .150 (28th)
Brooklyn Nets Defense (league rank): eFG% .521 (27th), TOV% 13.7 (T-18th), DRB% 73.4% (18th), FT/FGA .151 (2nd)
Orlando Magic Defense (league rank): eFG% .482 (17th), TOV% 13.0 (28th), DRB% 69.5 (27th), FT/FGA .185 (T-9th)
Season standings: The Brooklyn Nets are 2-2 after beating Orlando on Friday respectively. The Orlando Magic are 2-3, having now dropped three straight after winning their first two games.
Still though, how could you be: MO HARKLESS!?
Sustained success: Brook Lopez grabbed 10 rebounds in under 24 minutes against this Orlando frontline. It marked just the third time in the center’s history that he notched at least 10 rebounds in under 24 minutes, and the second time he did it against Orlando. The Nets won all three games.
In 2K13: Brooklyn Nets win, 111-92. Again without MarShon Brooks and Gerald Wallace, the Nets still jumped out to an early 15-2 lead and never looked back, led by the Brooklyn Backcourt; a stellar 31-point, 9-assist Deron Williams performance, while Joe Johnson shot 6-8 on three-pointers, finishing with 26 points. Brook Lopez finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds. The Nets out-rebounded the Magic 51-35, led by Kris Humphries’ 14 boards. Arron Afflalo led the Magic with 20 points on 8-13 shooting.
NBA 2K13 Record: 5-0
2K13 as predictor: 2-2
The Nets will win if… They did everything they did Saturday night — spread the ball, attack from different angles on the floor, find open shots and exploit mismatches.
The Magic will win if… The Nets hit record levels of complacent, E’Twaun Moore and J.J. Redick trade off three-pointers, Andrew Nicholson continues this “not missing” shots thing he’s done, Brook Lopez notches 6 fouls in five minutes and subsequently retires to focus on comic books, Joe Johnson spontaneously combusts, Deron Williams starts gnawing on his own leg in frustration, and Avery Johnson suits up to play point guard. (Basically, the Nets should win this one.)
