What happened: The Nets won their second straight game, a convincing 122-106 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road.
Where they stand: Brooklyn is 27-38, good for 11th in the East and 2.5 back from the eighth seed. They’ve got to pass Charlotte and Boston. I don’t know guys. It’s not looking great.
That was… probably the most fun win of the year.
I’ll just say it: if I could use one word to describe the Nets in 2015, I would not use “fast.” But that was what they were today. Fast breaks were aplenty, turnovers were generated. Joe Johnson’s shot was falling, Bojan Bodganovic was flying all over the place, Brook Lopez was back to being a dominant post player. After a back and forth first quarter, the Nets let it rip in the second and built a convincing lead over a young, athletic team in their own right.
Defensively, they could aspire to be better. I was excited to see one of my first glimpses of Andrew Wiggins tonight, but they mostly held him in check. Big damage was done by Zach Lavine and Kevin Martin – but the T-Wolves were also uncharacteristically accurate from the field tonight. A fine offensive game plan by both teams, but Brooklyn’s was more – I’ll say – surprising.
5×10: The Nets had five players in double figures tonight: Joe Johnson (22), Bojan Bogdanovic (21), Thad Young (19), Brook Lopez (16), and Jarrett Jack (16). Deron Williams added eight.
Game Grades: Read ‘em here.
Kevin Garnett update:
The Nets gave up KG, who is very, very old and didn’t play, for Thad Young, who contributes to crazy plays like this.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2LQzr6ahLc&w=750&h=420]
Yeah, I’d say the Nets won that trade.
Thad had a welcome return to his longtime team (of three months). You know, I’m starting to think that he might be my new favorite Net. I just love what this guy brings to this team. He’s so much fun to watch and has completely changed the Nets’ offensive and defensive identity, especially since the insertion of him in the starting lineup.
It’s clear that they haven’t totally figured it out yet, but it’s coming along. It’s been a while since we’ve had a guy like Thad play for the Nets and I forgot how much fun it is to watch a guy who is just a freak of nature.
58%: Rounding up, the Nets completed 58% of their shots tonight. That is really good.
Don’t shoot the messenger: This is a Zach Lowe tweet from the Sixers game the other night, but I’ll take it a step further.
Just finished Nets-Sixers. He hit two late shots, but it's amazing how often a whole BKN game goes by and you barely notice D-Will.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) March 15, 2015
It’s amazing how the Nets not only play one of their best offensive games of the season, but do so in a way that could reinvent their offensive identity for the remainder of the year, and D-Will is barely involved. Yes, the guy had some nice passes into the post and hit a couple of fine jumpers. Not only was D-Will not involved, but none of the guards were outside of Jarrett Jack, who didn’t start. After the second quarter, I barely noticed Deron on the floor. I don’t know where his game has gone, and what’s crazier, is that the Nets didn’t even need it.
Next up: Nets will take on Cleveland at The Q this Wednesday at 7pm. Oh boy.
