Game 25 Preview: Nets (8-16) at New York Knicks (8-15)

For the Nets to leave MSG with a win, Deron is going to need to make his shots

Each of these teams looks to right their respective ships tonight with a win against their hated rivals and soon-to-be crosstown foes when the Nets make the move to Brooklyn next season. We will see if Anthony Morrow can continue his unconscious shooting stretch and if the vaunted Knicks "Dream Team" with Amare, Carmelo, and Chandler can beat a team that most people view as their subordinates but are only a half game back in the standings.


Background on New York
In my opinion, the Knicks are the most disappointing team int he NBA right now as they undoubtedly have a ton of star-power and aren't seeming to be doing anything with it. The Knicks, with stars Amare Stoudamire, Carmelo Anthony, and Tyson Chandler, are only a half-game ahead of the Nets in the standings even with the Brook Lopez injury and the fact that on most nights, the only consistent Nets' scorer is Deron Williams. With that being said, the Knicks still have a lot of talent of offense that, against a poor defensive team like the Nets, might usurp their widely-noted struggles on defense. The Knicks haven't been playing well lately, but they are very dangerous nonetheless and aren't a good match-up for the Nets at all.

Game 24 Recap: Timberwolves 108, Nets 105

Morrow couldn't miss from beyond the arc, too bad he wasted that performance in a loss

Despite a career-high scoring output by Anthony Morrow, the Nets lost a tight game to the Timberwolves last night at the Prudential Center. Coming off an ankle injury that forced him to miss Wednesday's win over the Pistons, Morrow was simply unstoppable against Minnesota as he hit a career-high eight 3-pointers, hit 13-20 shots from the field, and was a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line en route to a 42-point effort, the most for his career. Morrow didn't much help as the rest of the Nets didn't shot well at all from the field; Deron Williams managed 12 points and 14 assists on 5-18 shooting while Kris Humphries scored 16 on 5-14 from the field.

On the other hand, the Timberwolves got scoring from multiple sources as five of their players were in double-figures in the points category, led by Nikola Pekovic's career-high 27 points and 11 rebounds. The still-undermanned Nets had no answer for 6'11" Montenegrin who used his big size to his advantage down in the paint as he made 11 of his 14 field goals. Kevin Love also netted a 20-10 double-double while Spaniard point guard Ricky Rubio notched his own double-double with 10 points and 10 assists while adding six steals.

The Nets showed a lot of fight in this game as they were down by double-digits in both the 1st and 2nd-halves; by 14 in the 2nd-quarter and by 11 in the 3rd-quarter. In both those circumstances, the Nets were able to bounce back and regain the lead by the end of the 1st-half and with 9:36 left in the 4th on a Morrow 3-pointer set-up by an absolutely dirty between-the-legs pass from D-Will. For the rest of the game after the 9:36 mark, the lead changed a few times and the margin stayed at five points or less.

The Nets found themselves down by 3 with 1:23 remaining after a Luke Ridnour 3-pointer when Deron committed one of his six turnovers for the game. After a few Ridnour free throws, Morrow hit his 8th and final 3-pointer on a 4-point play to cut the Minnesota lead to 104-103. Some free throws and shots were exchanged and the Nets were down 108-105 with 10 seconds left when D-Will made his worst play of the game, and posibly of the season, as he got the ball stolen from him while trying to pass to Morrow for the game-tying shot. Ricky Rubio ran the clock out and the Nets had suffered another brutal home loss.

Game 24 Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves (10-12) at Nets (8-15)

Many thought that Rubio's style of play wouldn't translate well to the NBA; boy were they wrong

The Nets take on the young Minnesota Timberwolves tonight at the Prudential Center as the Nets look to improve their momentum from Wednesday's win over the Detroit Pistons. The Nets will probably have 10 available players for the game as Anthony Morrow (ankle) and Johan Petro (stomach virus) are going to play tonight while Marshon Brooks (foot), DeShawn Stevenson (back), and Brook Lopez (foot) are all still out with injuries.

Background on Minnesota
The T-Wolves, led by recently-extended center Kevin Love and Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio, have been making waves across the NBA with their surprisingly start to this season. Minnesota, one of the NBA's worst teams last season, is only two games under .500 and is just a few games out of the 8th-playoff spot in the tough Western Conference. Franchise center Kevin Love is averaging 25 points and 14 rebounds per game so far in the 2011-12 season and has achieved a double-double in 20 of the 22 he has played so far. The youthful talent of the T-Wolves doesn't end after Love and Rubio however as Minnesota boasts a solid supporting cast of high draft picks in Derrick Williams and Wesley Johnson, in addition to free-agent pickups (J.J. Barea), role players trying to find their way (Anthony Tolliver, Anthony Randolph, Martell Webster), and even trade acquisitions (Michael Beasley and Brad Miller) among others.

Game 23 Recap: Nets 99, Pistons 96

I don't really have time for a full recap of tonight's win over the Pistons but I'll do my best:


The Nets snapped their 2-game losing streak with a solid win over Detroit tonight even without late scratches Anthony Morrow (ankle) and Johan Petro (stomach virus) not playing. The Nets only had eight players dress and one of them was guard Keith Bogans who was signed this morning. Deron continued his scoring rampage with 26 points on 12-21 shooting and was finally helped out by his supporting cast. Hump has a nice all-around game with 18 points, 8 boards, and 5 assists while Shawne Williams finally broke out of his prolonged shooting slump with a few threes. Even the Williams-squared (Shelden and Jordan) had near double-doubles.


The Nets led this one for most of the way by a comfortable margin but it got very dicey towards the end as a few Jonas Jerebko jumpers and a Greg Monroe lay-up cut the Nets lead to two with 41 seconds left. Then, the Nets made a few stops on the defensive end, Sundiata Gaines hit one of two free throws, and then Brandon Knight missed the potential game-tying three-pointer. Not pretty, but considering how undermanned the Nets were, its a good win. Our next game in on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Prudential Center and we finally get to see Ricky Rubio. I'm excited for this and hopefully some guys return from injury.

The Nets Waive Larry Owens and Sign Keith Bogans

Bogans will be a nice defensive stopper for the Nets and can also shoot decently

Earlier today, the Nets announced that they have waived D-League call-up Larry Owens and have signed veteran shooting guard Keith Bogans to a one-year contract. Bogans started every game for the Chicago Bulls last season and provided them with toughness and the ability to guard the opposing team's best scorer. Throughout his career, Bogans has also shown the ability to hit three-pointers when left open.

I like the move but its always a little sad to see guys like Larry Owens released right when they were starting to get more playing time with the big-league club but Bogans is a much better all-around player than Owens is and he can help the Nets right away. It'll be interesting to see how much Bogans play tonight but don't expect much as he hasn't been with the team for much more than a few hours at the most.

Game 23 Preview: Detroit Pistons (4-19) at Nets (7-15)

Frank is known for his tenacity on the court during games

Tonight at the Prudential Center, the Nets take on the hapless Detroit Pistons as New Jersey tries to break out of a 2-game losing streak. The Pistons are trying to snap their own losing streak, a 6-game one, which was extended by a blowout loss to the Knicks last night. It looks like Marshon Brooks (toe) and Mehmet Okur (back) will both miss tonight's contest while DeShawn Stevenson will probably return to the starting line-up. Detroit is also facing major injury problems as Net-killer Ben Gordon (shoulder), Will Bynum (foot), and Charlie Villanueva (ankle) are all out for the Pistons and didn't even travel with the team to New Jersey.

Background on Detroit
The Pistons are a team with an oddly-constructed roster as it seems that GM Joe Dumars isn't sure whether to hold on to and build around the wily veterans that have been part of successful teams in the past (Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, Ben Gordon) or to scrap the current roster and keep the younger players that have been recent draft-picks of the team (Rodney Stuckey, Austin Daye, Greg Monroe, and Brandon Knight) as building blocks. Regardless, the on-court product of this mixture of players has produced the 2rd-worst record in the NBA as of right now and it doesn't look to be getting much better anytime soon.
Another thing of note is former Nets and current Pistons head coach Lawrence Frank will be facing his old team for the first time since Frank was fired from his post with the Nets during the 2009-10 season.

Devils and Islanders to Play Preseason Game at Barclays Center

To quote Bart Scott, I can't wait for this thing to be built!

According to a press release by New York Islanders GM Garth Snow, the Islanders and New Jersey Devils will play the first ever hockey game at the currently-being-built Barclays Center on October 2nd, 2012 in a preseason match-up between the two clubs. The Barclays Center have been tossed around as a possibly permanent home for the Islanders who have been playing in the outdated Nassau Veterans' Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale until the franchise can find a new home.

I'm certainly looking forward to having the possibility to go to that game because right now, I would go to almost any event at the Barclays Center until the Nets open up there sometime next fall. I also think it would be pretty cool if the Islanders and Nets were co-tenants at the Barclays because it might introduce some NHL fans to the NBA as Nets fans and the bigger the fan-base the Nets grow when they move to Brooklyn, the better the atmosphere at the arena will be and hopefully, the better the product out on the court.

A major snag of the Islanders potential move is that the Barclays only seats around 14,500 for hockey which currently would function as the smallest seating capacity in the NHL, just less than the MTS Centre, where the Winnipeg Jets play their home games.