Following our Game Grades and a dominating Deron Williams performance, Here’s six quick thoughts about Game 6:
- As he has in every game prior to tonight, Jason Kidd walked out to meet the media before Friday night’s game wearing a Brooklyn Basketball t-shirt, this one a shimmering silver, with sleeves down to his elbows and the words “FOR BROOKLYN” emblazoned across his chest. It was a stark contrast to the slick Dwane Casey, who came to most of his pressers already in his suit. (He did not for Game 7.) We saw a much looser Kidd than usual, both pre- and post-game.
- Bruce “Mr. Whammy” Reznick, long-time Nets ticket holder and legendary fan, approached Nets forward Mirza Teletovic while Teletovic took shots before Game 6. “Touch me! Touch me for luck!” Mr. Whammy said, extending his hand towards Teletovic, who paused his warmup to give Whammy a high-five. “That’s luck!” Mr. Whammy screamed at him. “That touch is luck!”
- For all the pre-game hemming and hawing about what the crowd would do, the free t-shirts worked. Well, not really: they still didn’t have a uniform crowd, and when they tried to goad a pre-teen on the jumbotron into putting the shirt on, the fan just smiled, pointed at himself, and waved. He didn’t seem to realize why he was on the jumbotron in the first place. But they won. I’m just saying.
- Kevin Garnett: “There was no way in hell they were gonna come in here and get a win today.”
- The decision to sit Shaun Livingston for Alan Anderson was a curious one at the forefront, but it’s one that made a lot of sense. Livingston has struggled in this serious both with shooting fouls and turnovers, and his involvement in the game allows the Raptors to more freely double-team Joe Johnson because of his lack of perimeter shooting. The Raptors have to respect Anderson’s outside shot, even though he missed both of his attempts tonight, and that changes the space on the floor.
- Famous attendees: Rosie O’Donnell, Ellen Pompeo, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Mario Manningham, Jay-Z, Beyonce, and Drake, who left the game looking very sad.
