Rapid Reaction: Magic 94, Nets 78

Remove poor shooting from the equation, and Deron Williams performed to his lofty expectations. All the moves on the ground are at standard Deron Williams level. His ballhandling skills and court vision are a pleasure to watch at all times. We saw him score at the rim a couple times, an improvement over Atlanta’s 0-4 debacle. But his jumper’s broken right now, and considering how good he looked shooting the ball in Turkey, I couldn’t tell you why.

Essentially invisible for much of the game. Gaines and James are similar players in the sense that they’re both everywhere on the floor, constantly cognizant of potential havoc, but neither is particularly talented at any specific facet of the game. The starting experiment was not a success.

I appreciate Damion James. I like his archetype. I know he’ll have a career in this league that lasts longer than his rookie contract. But he played 9 minutes last night. And it didn’t seem wrong.

Facing off against Ryan Anderson in an interesting matchup of two polar opposites — a perimeter-oriented big man with skills and an interior-oriented big man with hustle muscles. The former won. Heartily. Humphries got a few boards, but played poor man defense and little help defense.

Starting to look like a human being again. He didn’t stand a chance defending Dwight Howard, so he gets a mild pass for Howard’s 24 rebounds. Okur’s ability to put the ball on the floor and stretch defenses is huge when his shot’s falling, and given his issues early on, it’s good to see him get a little closer to relevance.

His shot, the one thing keeping him in the league, is borderline comatose. His smooth stroke replaced by a consistent clank. If the assignment off the bench was designed to spark his shot, it failed. But until someone turns up his sliders, he doesn’t deserve the starting spot.

With the Nets down 20, MarShon Brooks scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting and carried them offensively to within six by the half. He struggled a bit in the third, pressing a bit in an attempt to create more self-offense, but attacked a Howard-guarded basket with no fear. His game — punctuated by an insane 30-foot double-clutch three-pointer as the shot clock expired late in the third quarter — was, for the second straight night, the Nets’ zenith.

Stevenson’s odd versatility as a guy strong enough to play the 2 and the 3 annoyingly enough to stymie opposing shooters was evident on the floor last night. Plus, the three goggles are out. And everyone loves the three-googles.

You traded Ryan Anderson. As a throw-in. That is all.