Game 11 Recap: Nets 86, Clippers 76. The One Where The Third Quarter Wasn't So Bad

Ever since the Nets traded for Joe Johnson over the summer, the shooting guard hasn't played like himself. Tonight, he certainly did.

If the Nets had any bad tastes in their mouths from their losses to the Lakers and the Warriors, then there aren't there anymore, because of how they completely shut down the Clippers in Brooklyn tonight. The Nets improved to 7-4 on the season with a win over one of the better teams in the Western Conference in a fashion that has been uncommon to them this year: They played good defense and were actually not-awful in the third quarter.

Ok, to be clear, the Nets didn't play great defense the whole game, just in the second half. They were down by a score of 47-40 at half and things didn't look too promising. The uber-athletic Clipper frontcourt duo of Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan dominated the first half, throwing down alley-oop dunks, grabbing offensive boards, and just making the Nets look bad most of the time. Just about the only thing going the Nets' way in the first two quarters of the game was the offensive output they got from Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez. Lopez's offense has been great the whole season but Joe's hasn't, making his early shooting accuracy a pleasant surprise.

Game 11 Preview: Los Angeles Clippers (8-3) at Brooklyn Nets (6-4)

We have a wonderful point guard battle tonight. Which one wins will probably determine the game's outcome.

When: 7:30 pm; Friday, November 23rd, 2012

Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY

TV: YES Network
 
The Nets look to shake off their brutal end to their annual West Coast Thanksgiving road trip by beating another Western Conference foe tonight at Barclays Center. The Clippers will be the fourth-straight California team the Nets will be playing, after beating the Kings on Sunday night and consequently falling to the Lakers and Warriors on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. Wednesday's loss was especially tough for Brooklyn as they had a 13-point first half lead squandered as Golden State took advantage of the absence of Gerald Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse--and of the Nets' terrible perimeter defense--to score 61 points in the second half to control the game and eventually win it.

Los Angeles also had a tough loss on Wednesday night, losing to the Thunder in an overtime affair in Oklahoma City. Down 10 points at half, the Clippers tied the game, sending it into overtime after outscoring the Thunder by a score of 33-26 in the fourth quarter. A few quick three-pointers by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook early in the extra period got OKC off to a great start, and netted them a four-point lead they wouldn't relinquish. The defeat ended the Clippers' six-game winning streak and dropped their record to 8-3 on the year.

Netlinked 10/8/12: Preseason Begins (For Other NBA Teams), Nets Have 1st Barclays Practice, Gerald Wallace Afraid of NYC

A-V-E-R-Y coaching up his new team at the new digs

It's official, the NBA preseason for the 2012-13 season has officially started. Well, to be fair, it started on Friday night when the Celtics lost to Fenerbahce, a Turkish team that has two players which the Nets hold the draft rights to. Those guys are Ilkan Karaman and Bojan Bogdanovic, who combined to score 15 points in their team's stunning upset of Boston.

There were also a bunch of games on Saturday and Sunday including Nets South (the Atlanta Hawks) beating the Heat and LeBron (no Wade due to injury) and the Nuggets beating the LA Clippers in Las Vegas on a buzzer-beating layup by Ty Lawson. However, unfortunately, the Nets don't open up their preseason circuit until this upcoming Saturday, October 13th, in Atlantic City, NJ against the 76ers.

Season-In-Review: Jordan Farmar

Ugh, I miss this guy already. What I don't miss? The empty seats behind him in this picture.

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 Jordan Farmar. I covered Kris Humphries last.

March 7th, 2012. The game was just another run-of-the-mill Nets-Clippers game at the Prudential Center on a Wednesday night, except that it was one the Nets won. The game had the feel of many the Nets have played in recent years against playoff teams: They race ahead to a quick lead, but watch their lead slowly deteriorate as the game progresses. In this one, two Chris Paul free throws gave the Clips their first lead of the game with 8.9 seconds, putting them ahead 100-98. Then, magic happened.

Deron Williams sent a beautiful cross-court skip pass to Jordan Farmar who sunk a rainbow three-pointer with 0.2 seconds left to give the Nets their 13th win on the season and a signature win over one of the West's better teams. Farmar scored 16 points in 19 minutes of play in that game, something not completely out of the ordinary for the former Laker to do in his two seasons in Jersey.

Trade Speculation Candidate: Anthony Morrow

When he gets hot, Morrow is the most dangerous 3-point shooter in the NBA

In this truncated season, Anthony Morrow hasn't been amazing for all 35 games but has been one of the Nets' most reliable players on the offensive end. However, he could become a casualty of New Jersey's quest to clear cap space for this upcoming offseason as his 2-yr, $8 million contract, identical in pay and length to Jordan Farmar's, is one that GM Billy King would love to get rid of in a trade for an (hopefully) expiring contract that might be able to fill some of the production void left by Morrow's departure.

Honestly, Anthony is one of my favorite Nets right now and I would hate to see him go to another team but the truth is that may be necessary for New Jersey to acquire big-name free agents this summer (I think you guys know who I'm referring to explicitly). Let's take a look at two potential trade scenarios which could benefit the Nets, and the other team involved, in both talent and salary cap perspectives: