Game 3 Recap: Heat 103, Nets 73

Gerald Wallace missed last night's game due to the injury he suffered in the Nets' win against Toronto. He was sorely missed against the Heat.

Without having the ability to watch last night's Nets blowout loss to the Heat, I had to listen on the radio. Let me tell you, it sounded almost as bad as it must have looked for those unfortunate to have watched. The Heat, clearly the class of the Eastern Conference and the NBA, had their way with the Nets--still without Gerald Wallace, their best defender--who stayed competitive during the first half, but faded away quickly in the second.

Miami won the game how you thought they would; incredible ball-handling (25 assists to Brooklyn's 12), knockdown three-point shooting (10-24 to the Nets' 3-21), and by pesky defense and stellar forcing-of-turnovers (forcing 19 to be committed by the Nets while only committing 12 themselves). Positives to note: Tornike (Toko) Shengalia finally made his Nets regular season debut (two points and two turnovers in 12 minutes), Kris Humphries finally showed up (11 points and 11 rebounds), MarShon Brooks scored 12 points off the bench, and Brook Lopez even grabbed seven rebounds in only 21 minutes.

Looking Ahead
The Nets travel upstate and play the Magic in Orlando at Amway Arena on Friday night, hoping to return to .500.

Preseason Game 3 Preview: Brooklyn Nets (2-0) at Boston Celtics (1-3)

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce may be the resident future Hall-of-Famers on the Celtics roster, but Rajon Rondo has arguably become their most important player.

When: 7:30 pm; Tuesday, October 16th, 2012

Where: TD Garden; Boston, MA

TV: NBA TV

The Nets head to Boston to take on the Celtics tonight at the TD Garden, looking to start off the preseason with a 3-0 record. Tonight's inter-division matchup won't nearly have the intensity of yesterday's Barclays Center debut as Avery Johnson announced earlier that none of the team's starters will play at all, with Coach Johnson wanting to let them rest and recover from the team's first-ever home game in Brooklyn.

That means the Nets will boast a starting lineup of C.J. Watson, Keith Bogans, Josh Childress, Reggis Evans, and Andray Blatche for the evening. Interestingly enough, four of those five weren't with the team last year, showing how much the bench has been turned over from the 2011-12 campaign. Another thing of note is that Nets' Georgian power forward, Tornike Shengalia, is likely to make his team debut in Boston, and will probably play around 20 minutes.

As you all probably know, the Nets won last night against the Wizards in the first NBA game ever played at the team's new home in the Barclays Center. However, the Celtics weren't as fortunate. They got absolutely gob-smacked by the 76ers in Philly on Monday night, losing by 32 in a poor all-around effort that Doc Rivers, coach of the Celtics, had to be extremely disappointed with. Boston committed 20 turnovers, shot a dreadful 61% from the free throw line, and allowed nearly 50% shooting by the opposing 76ers squad.

Recapping the Nets' Offseason, A Very Big One Indeed

Brooklyn's brand new backcourt. Watch out Eastern Conference, this duo means business.

So, I'm back. I returned from sleepaway camp two days ago and I'm slowly catching up and coming to grips with everything that has happened regarding the Nets' roster over the past eight or so weeks. Let's review each Nets' transaction (or non-transaction, you'll see what I mean) going back to Draft Night, which fell on June 27th this year:

Portland Trailblazers trade the 41st overall pick in 2012 Draft (G Tyshawn Taylor) to Nets for cash considerations
Entering this year's draft, the Nets only had one pick, the 57th overall pick in the 2nd-round. I guess Billy King liked Taylor, a point guard from the University of Kansas, so much that he didn't want to wait for him at 57 and instead used some of Mikhail Prokhorov's extra cash to nab Taylor with pick 41. Tyshawn, a Hoboken, NJ native, figures to be a part-time player for this year's Nets team who will share back-up PG duties with recent signee C.J. Watson.

Philadelphia 76ers trade the 54th overall pick in 2012 Draft (F Tornike Shengalia) to Nets for cash considerations
I don't follow European/foreign basketball very much so I have no first-hand experience in watching any of the Nets foreign acquisitions play but according to some scouting reports, Shengalia is a physical rebounding/defense type who won't be an offensive superstar but has some decent moves down in the post. His 6'9" frame is better suited for the 4 than the 3 as one of his major weaknesses is lack of a reliable jumper. My best guess is that he's a project who figures to not make much of an effect in the meantime.