Time: 10:30 PM EST
Location: Oracle Arena
Watch: YES Network
Listen: WFAN 660 AM/ 101.9 FM
One team sits at 9-48, while the other stands with the best record in the NBA at 48-9.
Still, the game must be played.
The Nets are coming off a horrid 129-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets last night. Jeremy Lin was back in the lineup, but it looked like most players were still on All-Star Break.
Caris LeVert filled in Bojan Bogdanovic’s void in the starting lineup and finished with 10 points after a shaky first half. Elsewhere, Brook Lopez scored a team-high 17 points made little difference on the defensive end.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson remains the starting power forward and he will be matched up with Draymond Green tonight, the league’s prototypical power forward these days — well, minus the kicking. In terms of injuries, the Nets will be without LeVert, who is suffering from an illness, and Quincy Acy, who hasn’t quite recovered from his pre-break ankle sprain.
The Warriors are a tough team to play, especially at home and their record at home is 25-3, also the best in the league. The Oracle crowd can get crazy when the Splash Brothers start draining threes and you know it’s only a matter of time when you play them — but it’s worth mentioning that superstar Kevin Durant will miss out.
It’s just the Nets after all…
Teams can hang around Golden State in spurts, but the Warriors have the ability to go on a 14-0 run like never seen before. This is usually the turning point in all of their games and it feels inevitable tonight on the West Coast.
Bu,t hey, we almost beat them last year on that Lopez tip-in!
1. RHJ- Draymond Green match-up
The league is going small and the Nets are trying to find their power forward for the future. Hollis-Jefferson and Green have similar body types. Even Atkinson said this about the pair: “Sure, same length, same height, people don’t realize that. (Rondae) moves the ball, rebounds (and is) a good defender.”
Can RHJ become the Nets’ version of Green in the future?
2. Jeremy Lin’s Return
Although it seems like Lin is on a minutes restriction for now, it’s still nice to finally see him back on the court. Lin finished with seven points and five assists in his return against the Nuggets, but the hype was mostly anti-climatic.
Let’s see if we can see some more Brook-Lin tonight.
3. The Splash Brothers in action
It’s not every night you get a chance to see Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and the eventual — again, the inevitable theme — back-to-back-to-back NBA Finalists in action. Enjoy it, even if they outscore the Nets by themselves. The way the sharpshooters play is a thing of beauty, mixed in with a healthy dose of our favorite, Shaun Livingston, and you’ve got enough reason to stay up late right there.
