Game 13 Recap: Nets 96, Knicks 88 (OT). The One Where The Crosstown Rivalry Began

Reggie Evans was everywhere, doing everything last night for the Nets.

The last Nets playoff game was a May 18, 2007 loss in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team featuring LeBron James before the whole "Taking my talents to South Beach" thing. However, the game the (Brooklyn) Nets played last night at Barclays Center was probably more intense than that loss to Cleveland and wasn't even an elimination game in the NBA playoffs. It was just the first-ever regular season game between the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks, which just happened to be played in Brooklyn. 
 
The game was hotly contested right out the gates at Barclays as expected, as each team started out pretty hot from the field. Defense was mainly nowhere to be found as the home-team Nets managed to eke out a three-point lead after the first frame. Surprisingly, in the second quarter, mainly the Knicks bench-- shorthanded without backup point guard, and former Net, Jason Kidd, due to back spasms--outplayed the normally-reliable Nets reserves, as the Knicks won the quarter and took a lead into half. Contributions were varied, with Melo hitting a few shots, Tyson Chandler and Marcus Camby controlling the paint, and even the ageless Rasheed Wallace draining a deep three-pointer, sending the Knicks supporters at Barclays into a frenzy.

Then came the dreaded third quarter. In the ten games before this past homestand--so the games before this week's wins over the Clippers and Blazers--the Nets were a disgrace in that quarter, blowing games left and right with terrible performances coming out of the halftime intermission. That was not the case last night, even though the quarter didn't get off to the best start for the home team. Melo was unstoppable in the third, hitting jumpers and getting "fouled" when driving to the hoop constantly. Of course, the airquotes are necessary as the Syracuse product got away with more push-offs than I have probably every witnessed in my life. Regardles, Melo was so hot even Gerald Wallace couldn't stop him.

Game 12 Recap: Nets 98, Trail Blazers 85. The One Where Reggie, Brook, and Hump Got All The Rebounds

With every game he plays well in, Joe Johnson is looking more and more like a steal for the Nets

Winning their fifth-straight game at Barclays Center, the Nets rebounded (literally) from a bad first half effort to blow away the undermanned Portland Trail Blazers in the second half. Missing All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland didn't have a key cog in their lineup, but that didn't stop them from jumping out to a four-point lead at half behind rookies Damian Lillard and Meyers Leonard in addition to J.J. Hickson and Wesley Matthews as well. Luckily for the Nets, those guys cooled down after the intermission and Brooklyn's guys heated up. 

The third quarter woes that plagued the Nets during some of their earlier losses this season have been thankfully absent from the last two games, counting this afternoon's game of course. In the third quarter, D-Will came out with a vengeance, the vengeance that he expresses with intensity during close games in which he feels he has to take over. That's what he did right out of the break, driving at the rim fiercely on the undersized Lillard, first getting an easy layup, missing the next one, and then getting blocked. Maybe he didn't get the results he wanted from those drives, but the tone was set for the Nets, and that led them to even up the score by the end of that quarter just to run away with the game in the fourth.

Game 10 Recap: Warriors 102, Nets 93. The One Where Klay and Curry Were Unstoppable

Prediction: This guy's (Klay Thompson) face will be the subject of my next nightmare

If you looked up the definition of "gut-punch loss" in the dictionary, you would find a picture of a wide-open Klay Thompson swishing a three-pointers about 10 feet in front of Joe Johnson. Of course, that picture would be indicative of the complete and utter crap show the Nets decided to feed up tonight in Oakland against the Warriors. Once again, the Nets played a great first half, going up 46-41 after 24 minutes of play. During those first two quarters, our boys from Brooklyn closed out on the Golden State shooters, made plenty of open shots, rebounded well, and cut down on turnovers. Then came the dreaded third quarter, that stretch of 12 minutes between the second and fourth quarters in which the Nets simply can't do anything right. No ball movement or player movement on offense, lazy and low-percentage jump shots, horrendous/non-existent defensive rotations, and unfathomably idiotic turnovers.

Tonight was absolutely no different. For the most part, the Nets stopped driving into the paint for high percentage shots on offense and turned into the solely jump-shooting team we have come to despise from the New Jersey days. The Nets missed a ton of those jumpers and, conversely, the Warriors made nearly all of theirs. Granted, the dreadful perimeter (or lack of) defense exhibited by the Nets certainly contributed to Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry going off in the second half, credit should be given where it's due. Regardless of how bad Brooklyn's defense without Gerald Wallace is, it's clear that those guys can shooting the lights out, altering the result of a game in the process.

The Nets Will Only Go As Far As Brook Lopez Allows Them To

Some may think it's Deron Williams, others Joe Johnson. But the truth is that Brook Lopez is the true key to the Nets' success as a team.

The Nets front office spent much of this offseason trying to trade for Dwight Howard, someone who had never been on the Nets and probably never will be. General Manager Billy King made it very clear throughout last season and the summer that his team was in full pursuit of the Orlando Magic center, and at some points came ridiculously close to actually pulling a deal off. However, regardless of the close calls that occurred in the entire Dwightmare scenario, no trade was ever made. We know how that story ended up: Brook Lopez was extended, the Nets solidified their starting lineup with Joe Johnson, and Howard was dealt to the Lakers in a four-team trade that didn't give the Magic much value in return.

Heading into a new state, city, arena, and identity, the Nets had to rebound quickly from their failed pursuit of Howard in order to get ready for beginning of the NBA season a few months away. One player--even though he was the key part of the Nets' potential return for Howard--was nearly completely neglected by the team's front office and fans. That would, of course, be Brook Lopez. The entire summer, and much of last season, Lopez had to hear his name swirled in trade talks with the Magic, leaving him without much confidence in the franchise that was still signing his paychecks. At least I know I wouldn't have any faith in a team basically admitting that I wasn't good enough for them as they attempted to trade me for someone to directly fill my spot on the team.

Ironically, as much as Brook was talked about off-court in the trade discussions, his on-court abilities were forgotten. He may be an awful rebounder and shaky defender for a man of his size, but Brook is certainly a dynamite scorer who is almost impossible for any other defender to stop when the Stanford grad is at the top of his game. Sure, people agreed that he was important to the Nets but these same people also seemed to undervalue his importance to the success of this team. Basically all contending teams have a really good center (at the least, power forward), and Brook is that guy for the Nets.

Game 6 Recap: Nets 114, Cavaliers 101

The Nets simply had no answer for Varejao tonight. Thankfully, him and the Cavs had no answer for the Nets either.

For the sake of an analogy, the Brooklyn Nets are like the lead actor in a play, possibly even a Broadway one. Lead actors in plays are very talented and draw the audience in with their dramatic dialogue and actions. People root for them when they are the hero, people root against them when they are the enemy. The point is that they are captivating. However, they can also be really loud and annoying, in addition to having off days from time to time. In these circumstances, the audience is expecting a lot from the lead actor but instead gets a dud of a performance. The Nets are very much like this.

How, you might say, could a basketball team be like an actor in a play? Well, like an actor, the Nets have tons of natural talent which will propel them to many leads and big wins this season. They also have their fair share of duds, exemplified by the many blown leads and the pair of notable crushing losses they have had so far this season. Tonight, we saw both sides of the Nets, good and bad. Good in that they moved the ball around on offense masterfully the entire game, leading to 27 (!) assists and 114 points. Good in that they shot 54.5 percent from the field, only committed 13 turnovers against one of the NBA's best teams at forcing turnovers, and even blocked 10 shots. Bad in that they allowed 101 points to the Cavs and career-highs to both Kyrie Irving (34 points) and Anderson Varejao (35 points on 16-21 shooting).

Season-In-Review: Brook Lopez

Lopez may have missed (nearly) all of that season, but that doesn't he can't rebound in the 2012-13 campaign

This post, along with the other posts I will do in the Season-In-Review series, will take a deeper look at how all the Nets did last season on the court and possibly off of it. We continue with Brook Lopez. Deron Williams was covered last.

Ah, Brook Lopez, the Nets' most endearing enigma.The 7'0" center was injured for the first time in his short career last season and boy did he miss games. Brook played in just five of the Nets' 66 games last year due to a broken right foot and the team certainly suffered without the talents of their true center who, in years prior, served as a menacing defensive stud down low and put up 20-point performances on the reg. However, Lopez has definitely had his share of problems, especially regarding rebounding, and he may not be the player he was pre-injury this season in Brooklyn.

From 2008-11, his first three years in the league, Brook played in all 246 of the Nets games in that span and played pretty well, increasing his points per game output from 13.0 in '08-'09, to 18.8 in '09-'10, to 20.4 in '10-'11. Even though Brook's scoring throughout his career has been consistently good, his rebounding has been far from and that was shown in the five games Brook did manage to play last season. In those games, he averaged 19.2 points per but just a mere 3.6 rebounds per, something that is unacceptable for a player of Lopez' size and importance to his team.

More after the jump on the Stanford grad:

Brook Lopez Questionable for Today's Game In Chicago; Wait, What?

We missed you Brook. Like, we seriously really missed you and are begging that you can be as good as you were last season. Sorry for seeming a little obsessive, but we really, really missed you Brook.

According to a tweet by the Nets' public relations official Twitter account, the injured Brook Lopez has about a 50-50 chance of playing in today's afternoon game against the NBA-leading Chicago Bulls. When a player is considered to be "questionable" in mostly the NFL and NBA, they are likely to be given a 50-50 shot of playing in the said game.

With that being said, I was utterly surprised and simultaneously energized after seeing this tweet simply because this Nets team needs someone like Lopez to end this eight-game losing streak. Finally, it seems like this team might be getting a break regarding injuries as Lopez as already missed 8 weeks since his foot surgery which acts as the latest expected return date for Brook after his doctors prognosticated between a "6-8 week" recovery period. If he does indeed play tomorrow which is unclear at the moment, then Lopez will have missed the Nets' first 31 games of the season, 31 games in which the Nets have only had 8 wins and have been desperately lacking a consistent interior post-scoring presence which Brook definitely provides on the court.

Netlinked 2/15/12- Brook Practices, Armor GM on NBA Today, Armor on a Winning Streak

The Nets need Brook back healthy soon, or else this losing stretch will continue through the whole month of February

Finally some good news: Brook Lopez has finally returned to practice for the first time since breaking his foot right before the season and according to the Nets' [current] franchise center, his injured foot felt good. Since the injury nearly two months ago, Brook has missed roughly eight weeks of action which could serve as a nice indicator of his possible return as the original prognosis for the injury was that Lopez would miss 6-8 weeks. I'm sure that with a player as important to the Nets like Lopez is, both as an on-court talent and as a trade asset, the team's medical staff will be as cautious as possible in determining his return which hasn't officially been set yet. I'm hoping for a return to the court for Brook on February 28th, when the Nets return from the All-Star break in Dallas against the Mavericks.

The general manager of the Nets' D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor, who happens to be Milton Lee, appeared on ESPN.com's NBA Today podcast as a guest to discuss the day-to-day operations of the D-League and what its like to be a GM of one of the teams. I highly suggest you guys listen to the podcast as it is very informative as are the rest of the NBA Today shows which go in depth on topics concerning the NBA as a whole.

The team that Lee runs is also doing very well on the court right now as his Armor squad  extended its current winning streak to five consecutive games after a blow-out win over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on Sunday night. Six Armor players scored double-figures in points in the game and that group of players was led by 7' center out of Cornell named Jeff Foote was incredibly efficient on the evening, making eight of his 10 field goals in the Springfield win. The streak is the Armor's longest of the season and they being so successful because of the scoring depth of the team which is highlighted by six current Armor players averaging at least 10 points per game, including Dennis Horner who started the year with the big-league Nets but was sent to Springfield after playing only a total of 16 minutes with the team.

Extension Unlikely For Brook Lopez: The Ramifications for Getting Dwight

According to Nets' general manager Billy King, the Nets are probably not going to give the injured Brook Lopez a contract extension before the deadline of January 25th. This is very bad news for Nets fans as it is appearing like the Nets are putting all of their eggs in the Dwight Howard-basket and if they don't acquire him via a trade or free agency by this offseason, then this franchise will be primed to be a bottom-dweller of the Eastern Conference for years to come.

As most Nets fans already know, Deron Williams is probably not going to re-sign with the team this offseason unless the Nets and Billy King get him some help, which in a perfect world, would be Dwight Howard. However, with the recent inclusion of the Clippers onto Dwight's preferred destinations list, it is looking less and less likely every day that Howard will be a New Jersey (basically Brooklyn) Net before the start of the next NBA season.