Recap: Nets 114, Lakers 105
@NetsPR: The Nets are now 1-0 with Thaddeus Young on the roster
That was fun. The Nets ran the lowly Lakers out of their own gym behind possibly the team’s best offensive performance all season. Why was the offense so deadly? Well, Brooklyn played small-ball with Joe Johnson at the four for most of the contest, Bojan Bogdanovic looked like a new man, Deron Williams fueled the team’s ball movement and Brook Lopez did Brook Lopez type things.
It wasn’t all this peachy 24 minutes in, however. The Nets essentially traded baskets with the Lakers through the first two quarters, with both teams playing equally bad defense. Brooklyn actually trailed Los Angeles by one at the halftime break, but exploded in the third to the tune of a 40-20 quarter. That’s the most points the Nets have scored in a quarter all season. Shots were falling, the defense stepped up, and the Nets coasted to victory. (EDIT: Started writing the recap about when the Lakers made it a close-ish game in the fourth. It’s okay though, Brooklyn closed it out!)
Grades:
Joe Johnson: When Joe Johnson’s offense is primarily catch-and-shoot tries, it is beautiful. Such was the case tonight, and Johnson responded with a smooth 23 points on 11 shots with five threes despite the injury concerns. His defense was really shaky early on, but playing the four isn’t something he’s used to and those bigger bodies are tough to handle. But then he couldn’t really deny Ryan Kelly either. A-
Mason Plumlee: Plumlee played just 17 minutes due to a rough start in all facets and Lopez having a solid outing. He couldn’t guard Robert Sacre, which is… unsettling. D+
Deron Williams: ALL OF THE DIMES, ALL OF THE DIMES. How about 15 assists for D-Will, the most he’s dropped in a Nets uniform. He was super active offensively, even if a lot of his shooting looks didn’t look very good. Can’t complain much though, even with how ‘meh’ he looked defensively. B+
Alan Anderson: The perfect Alan Anderson game. Didn’t force much on offense, put in a lot of effort on defense. 14 points on six shots along with four boards and five dimes. A
Bojan Bogdanovic: This Bojan. Every night. Please. Everything was aggressive, confident, happening with gusto. Bogie even tried a few flashy passes! He attacked the rim with, dare I say, ferocity. He pulled it from three whenever he felt like it. And it ended in a 16-point outing on 6-12 shooting from the field. He even had a poster dunk. I swear. A+
Cory Jefferson: Spot minutes mostly. He’s athletic and young, which is cool, but he tried too hard on offense, trying some post-moves I’m skeptical he can make consistently. C-
Brook Lopez: The 22 points is nothing new. The 14 rebounds against a semi-athletic Lakers frontcourt though? Solid. Very solid. His defense was ugly to watch at times, but when isn’t it? A-
Thaddeus Young: Hard to pin him for mistakes when he’s on a brand new team, but there weren’t many tonight. His close range game was working, scoring eight points on 4-8 shooting and grabbing four rebounds in 12 minutes. I’d expect him to be in the starting lineup as soon as he gets comfortable with the system. B
Markel Brown: He’s athletic and fun please play him more. B
Darius Morris: He shouldn’t get playing time once Jarrett Jack is back. D+
Next game: @ Nuggets on Monday, February 23rd.
