Preseason Game 2 Recap: Brooklyn Nets 98, Washington Wizards 88

Deron Williams, in Monday's win. He looked to distribute, instead of focusing on scoring for the Nets, which worked out pretty well.

Hey Brooklyn, ask and you shall receive. You wanted a winning NBA team, and for at least just Monday night, that's what you got. The Nets, wearing their slick road black jerseys, opened up their new home with a well-played win over the short-handed Wizards at the Barclays Center. After a sluggish 1st quarter, one in which they were losing after 12 minutes of game action, the Nets picked up the intensity and effort, clinging on to a two point lead by halftime. The 2nd half of action was much better for Brooklyn as they started to hit more shots, played better defense, and started to attack the rim more effectively.

First off, before getting into the game, let's talk about the Barclays Center during its first night of operation for an actual NBA game. The crowd wasn't as large as I thought it would be, as there were plenty of empty, jet-black seats. However, the people that were there, myself included, managed to make a lot of noise throughout with chants and cheering, something that gave the Nets a tangible home-court advantage throughout. A thing that has been lacking in New Jersey, with the majority of the fans at the game caring little about the on-court action. It's clear that's different in Brooklyn.

The crowd rose and fell with how the Nets were doing at that point in the game; cheering and chanting when they had momentum after one of Andray Blatche's monstrous jams and quietly enervating when a young Wizards team jumped out to a quick run in the 3rd quarter, cutting the Nets' lead to 1. Then, after the Nets barely clung onto a miniscule lead from that point in the 3rd into the 4th, the intensity and urgency of the Nets picked up, mirroring that of the crowd, especially those in the upper reaches of the Barclays. That lead was all for naught with 9 minutes left in the final quarter, as a Jordan Crawford jumper put Washington up by 1.

Preseason Game 2 Preview: Washington Wizards (1-2) at Brooklyn Nets (1-0)

Wait, the Brooklyn Nets are playing actual NBA basketball against another team here tonight? Awesome. And it's going to be on TV and radio? Sick. And I'm going to be there? Even better. Conclusion: I'm excited, and you should be too.

When: 7:30 pm; Monday, October 15th, 2012

Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY

TV: YES Network

Radio: None

Another first happens tonight as the Barclays Center, the Nets' much-anticipated new home arena, is christened yet again. Of course, the first NBA game to ever be played at the Barclays is tonight's Nets-Wizards preseason tilt. Sure, it's not the regular season and it's certainly not November 1st's much-hyped regular season opener vs the Knicks, but it is basketball. And it's basketball at our new home, the new home for our team and only for our team.

The last two places the Nets have played regular season home games at, the Prudential Center in Newark and the Izod Center/Continental Airlines Arena/Brendan Byrne Arena, were both in New Jersey and weren't solely occupied by the Nets. Whenever the Nets played at either of those arenas, the New Jersey Devils were tenants at the same time. But why does that matter, some might ask. Obviously, it doesn't matter during games per se but it certainly adds to the aura and mystique of a team's home games if the fans and players on the court all know that multi-million (or in the Barclays case, billion) dollar work-of-art is just for one team's use, and one team's only.

The Nets don't have that problem anymore, as tonight marks the first time in team history that they will be playing a home game in their arena, one built for them and for them alone to play in. Changing out the ice from a Friday night Devils game to prep the arena for a Saturday night Nets game? Nope, no more. Having a 1:00 pm Sunday matinee so the arena can be ready for a primetime hockey match? Long gone.

Was being co-tenants with other teams in an arena the cause for the Nets' recent struggles on the court? Definitely not, but it helps the fanbase and the players connect intimately to a team that is their own, and the arena's own.

Oh yeah, the game. I didn't forget.

Andray Blatche Becomes Latest Player to Be Linked to Nets; Will Meet With Avery Johnson in Houston

Blatche was amnestied this offseason by the Wizards to shed themselves of his $23 million contract, making him a nice, low-risk potential addition for the Nets

According to the New York Times, amnestied Wizards power forward Andray Blatche and Nets' coach Avery Johnson, are scheduled to meet in Houston in the upcoming days to gauge each parties' interest in a potential training camp contract. Since the Nets' acquisition of Donte Greene ended up stalling, the team has an open roster spot for a power forward/center with some size, and Blatche fills that mold.

When healthy, the 6'11'' 26-year old has proven that he can provide decent to good scoring and rebounding numbers, posting careers averages of 15.7 points and 8.6 rebound per 36 minutes respectively. Honestly, with a guy that has Blatche's talent, there is almost no risk for the Nets to bring him aboard for training camp and beyond.

He doesn't have to play 20 minutes a night; he can just sub in occasionally to give the starters or higher reserves a blow when needed and can help out on the boards and maybe score some points in his action. With a roster as filled out as the Nets' is, having another player who has shown he can effective in the NBA can never hurt, and is a low-risk, medium-reward transaction. Of course, you can't go wrong with one of those.

Nets' Preseason Schedule Announced, 1st Game at Barclays is October 15th

This will be the place to be on October 15th, the first time the Brooklyn Nets will play a game there. I'll be in attendance, will you?

In a press release from yesterday, the Nets, among with all other NBA teams, announced their 2012 preseason schedule. This preseason, the Nets have six games, three of which are at the Barclays Center (10/15, 10/18, 10/19) and the rest are either on the road or at neutral sites (10/13, 10/16, 10/24). The first official game for the Brooklyn Nets franchise will be October 13th against the Philadelphia 76ers at a yet-to-be-determined site. The first official home game for the Nets at the Barclays Center will be October 15th against the lowly Washington Wizards.

Of special note, the Nets' 4th and last home preseason game will not be played at the Barclays Center but instead at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island where the New York Islanders play their home games during the NHL season. A possible attempt to spread the Nets' fanbase onto Long Island? If so, I love the idea. As a Long Island resident, I can first-hand tell that most Long Island basketball fans support the Knicks, but if the Knicks have another disappointing season, that barometer could easily shift in favor of the Nets. The more fans, the merrier.

Full preseason schedule for the Nets after the jump, courtesy of BrooklynNets.com:

Game 57 Preview: Washington Wizards (12-43) at Nets (19-37)

John Wall went 1st overall the season after the Nets had the worst record in the NBA, we can dream

The Nets return home to New Jersey after a relatively solid 2-2 West Coast road trip. They took care of the bad Warriors and Kings before losing to the Lakers and Blazers. As is usual with the Nets, injuries ensued and D-Will missed a few of the contests, leaving New Jersey with Sundiata Gaines running the team most of the game in Portland. No wonder they got killed. 

Background on Washington

The Wizards stink and hold the 2nd-worst record in the whole league. Yep, good characteristics to beat the Nets who for some reason, play terrible basketball against all the bottom-dwellers of the NBA, except for the Bobcats of course. The last time these teams faced each other, March 21st in Newark, the Nets got crushed by 19 points to a Washington team that was energized by the debut of Nene, who was acquired from Denver at the trade deadline in exchange for much-maligned center JaVale McGee. Also to be noted, the Wizards are 1-9 since that game. That hasn't been helped by the absence of Nene who has missed the last four games with a foot injury. He's a game-time decision for tonight's game.

Game 48 Recap: Wizards 108, Nets 89

Against all other teams, Roger Mason is a bad basketball player. Against the Nets, he's a star.

Normal game coverage will resume on Friday when the Nets head to Atlanta to take on the Hawks. As for the debacle that was tonight's game, a few lines fairly summarizes what happened. Washington got hot early and stayed hot the entire game and yet again, the Nets let the opposing teams score a ton of points (33) in the 1st quarter and get out to a big lead (8 but with the Nets, 8 points is a big deficit). With a few exceptions throughout the game when the Nets had spurts of competence, the Wizards kept this lead till the end.

Perennial cast-off Roger Mason scored 16 points in 23 minutes, while original Nets draft pick Jordan Crawford dropped in 23. Even new Wizard, Nene, made 9 of his 13 shots for 22 points and 10 boards. To give credit where credit is due, the young-gun and new-look Wizards played extremely well and hit some contested shots but many of them were wide-open jumpers and lay-ups that took one of two dribbles to get to the rim. Like usual, another poor, poor defensive effort by the Nets.

New Jersey's shooting was dismal (37 percent), couldn't defend (Washington shot 48 percent), and really didn't do much else right. I guess the tanking has officially started. However, for the first time in what seems like a lifetime, Avery Johnson showed some emotion and even got ejected midway through the 3rd quarter for arguing calls with the refs. D-Will joined in on the technical party and good for him, he didn't have to deal with the stink of the Nets anymore as he got ejected as well. Then, as one would expect, Washington was able to stretch out its 8-10 point lead to the high double-digits against the scrubbiest of Nets reserves, putting this game out of contention.