Going to go “The Difference” style for tonight’s recap — one bullet point for each point in the margin of victory — because if you think this game deserves a real recap, you may not have been watching:
- First things first: Reggie Evans got his tooth knocked out and outside of an official timeout to clean up the blood didn’t leave the game. Evans, who was hit inadvertently by a headbutt from Charlotte Bobcats rookie forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, didn’t flinch upon contact and still tried to get the rebound. Before getting hit, Evans had 6 points and 8 rebounds. After getting hit? 8 points and 12 rebounds, in roughly the same amount of playing time. After his league-leading ninth 20-rebound game, Evans put on a gold-plated grill and walked out of the locker room, only speaking into his locker. You will never be as cool as Reggie Evans.
- Brook Lopez was second on the team with 19 points, but frankly should’ve had far more. This is a Bobcats frontline that Lopez can tear apart with his combination of length, size, and touch, but Lopez inexplicably struggled to attack and put shots down near the rim.
- Considering the way he’s shot in recent weeks, maybe Gerald Wallace not shooting a single field goal throughout the game and only going to the line once is a good thing. Then again, maybe even the fact that you can debate whether or not one of your core starters should shoot in 31 minutes says a lot more.
- I’ve gone three bullet points without mentioning Deron Williams. Let me rectify that. Deron Williams’s main defenders may have been Kemba Walker, who is three-foot-seven, and Ben Gordon, who couldn’t defend a bar of soap, but 32 points on 11-18 shooting — 7-8 in the restricted area — is impressive regardless of who it comes against. I’m not getting tired of saying it: the way he attacks the basket since the All-Star break is night and day.
Another way to look at it: before the break, Williams averaged 2.6 attempts per game in the restricted area. Since the break? 3.9.
- Your Andray Blatche-Brook Lopez update: three minutes together, +2. 0 minutes with Gerald Wallace at power forward.
- More important lineup information: the starting 5 for Brooklyn tonight played 28 minutes — a high number for a top Nets lineup — shot 51% from the field, got to the line 19 times, and outscored Bobcats lineups 69-54.
- Mirza Teletovic played in one stretch and I honestly don’t remember one thing he did. The box score says he misses a three, which I believe.
- Worse than Teletovic’s forgettable performance was MarShon Brooks’s memorably bad defense.
- Joe Johnson said after the game that he’s still got somewhat limited mobility and can’t do everything he’d like. After a 5-16 performance shooting the ball, it does seem like he’s not 100% just yet. Even though he had a couple of open looks, he didn’t put them down — and he did take some shots that he clearly wasn’t physically ready for. With two back-to-backs remaining, it may be smart for P.J. Carlesimo to rest him as the Nets gear up for the playoffs.
