Pacers' Bench Key to victory over Nets

Quick, somebody call the bomb squad; watching the Brooklyn Nets game on Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers, looked like the Nets were going to implode on their own! The Nets lost to the Pacers 114-100 and their record for the season is now 12-38; with an 8-20 record at home.

The Nets have more losses at home than on the road; this record is not how you represent Brooklyn!

The Indiana Pacers straight out the gate stampeded with a 17-9 run. The Nets, a little wobbly, missed their first eight shots to start the second quarter and then was outscored by the Pacers by 36-20. At the end of the half, the Nets had dug themselves into a 19-point deficit (62-43).

The tide turned for a brief period in the third when Joe Johnson and Thaddeus Young combined for 21 of the 34 points and gave the Nets a reason for hope going into the in the fourth, as the Net’s deficit was cut down to 10.

Even though Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez, AKA “The Big Guy,” and his fellow starters were in double digits, it wasn’t enough to put the Nets within striking distance. Lopez led all Nets players with 21 points and eight rebounds; Joe Johnson scored 20 points and nine assists, both Thaddeus Young and Wayne Ellington scored 16 points, with Young adding 14 rebounds accomplishing his 22nd double-double; and Donald Sloan chipped in 11 points.

The Nets’ bench did not keep up; scoring only 16 points. Meanwhile, C.J. Miles, with 27 points, led the Pacers bench to outscore the Nets bench 58-16, a tremendous help to the Pacers because the Pacers starters were in role reversal mode.

Paul George scored 17 points, six assists, and four rebounds for Indiana. George Hill added 13 points, Lavoy Allen added 12 points and eight rebounds; and Monta Ellis chipped in 11 points, 5 assists and six rebounds.

Adding to the Nets scoring issues were 17 turnovers.

"It seems like every game we have a mental lapse or there's just turnovers," Johnson said attempting to explain the Nets’ loss. "I have no idea. I'm sorry. I don't know. We just hurt ourselves from time to time."

For the Nets, their effort couldn’t have been more inspiring

The last time Dwyane Wade visited the Brooklyn Nets, he broke their hearts-hitting clutch shots late, and the Miami Heat escaped with a 104-98 win. On Tuesday night, post-winter storm Jonas, Wade did it again. The old pro, like he’s displayed his entire career, he hit big shots late, leading the Heat to a narrow 102-98 victory over the Nets.

With 1:35 left in the 4th quarter, Wade lost Thaddeus Young on a screen set by Chris Bosh, as he made his way to the basket, uncovered. Luol Deng found him, Wade went up for the layup and finished, despite being fouled by Wayne Ellington, increasing what was a one-point 94-93 lead to 97-93 adding the free-throw. Moments later, the Nets would turn the ball over, one of their 16 TOs for the night and Wade made them pay.

He evaded Ellington, dribbled to the right side of the three-point arc, met Brook Lopez on the switch and drained a step-back mid-range jumper, giving the Heat a 99-93 advantage with 1:04 left in the 4th. Ten seconds later, Donald Sloan (10 points) would hit a three to make things interesting, pulling the Nets to within three, 99-96 but to no avail. Wade and Bosh scored 27 apiece, team highs, and rookie Justise Winslow impressed with 13 points and seven rebounds.

“Typical CB, typical D-Wade,” said Lopez who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.“You know, they do just a great job of moving the ball constantly on offense. You can tell they’re composed, regardless of the score.”

For the Nets, their effort couldn’t be more inspiring. The Nets won the 1st half, shooting 55 percent from the field and from three, heading into halftime with a 57-51 lead. In the third, the Heat responded and the Nets started to see their lead and momentum transfer to the opposing bench.

“I thought offensively we struggled in the second half,” Nets head coach Tony Brown said post-game. “I think our pace slowed down, and the ball didn’t move as freely as it did in the first half.”

The turnovers didn’t help either.

At the half, the Nets had three TOs. They finished with 16, including four in the first five minutes of the 3rd quarter, coupled with bad shooting, which helped the Heat start the 2nd half on a 10-1 run. After Bosh’s three with a little over eight minutes left in the 3rd gave the Heat their first lead of the game, 60-58 since 6-4 early in the 1st quarter, the Heat never looked back.

They took control of the 2nd half and the Bosh and Wade duo made sure the Nets wouldn’t have another upset win like they did against OKC. Like the Nets, Miami has been struggling as of late, and before wins against the Chicago Bulls, their previous game, and the Nets tonight, Wade and co. endured a four-game losing streak.

“It’s just important to come out here and get a win,” Wade said in the visitors locker-room following the win. “It wasn’t about backing up what happened in Chicago. We’re a team that lost four in a row.” He continued: “We had to go all the way into the bottom of the bag tonight to be able to pull this out, but we were able to.”

Thaddeus Young scored 12 points, Joe Johnson added 15 and Andrea Bargnani came off the bench to score a team-high 20.

The Nets did beat OKC not too long ago and although they competed against the Heat, Brown expressed that there are no moral victories and at the end of the day the Nets want to win games.

Their next shot comes this Friday @ the Dallas Mavericks.

Brooklyn Nets stayed competitive up to close of 2nd Quarter; Utah’s 37-point third quarter doomed Nets recovery

Different opponent. Same result. Same old Brooklyn Nets.

It doesn’t matter who lines up as the next challenger, the Nets just can’t catch a break. Tonight the same old tune repeated itself, this time, featuring the Utah Jazz. With Derrick Favors, Dante Exum, and Alec Burks all out of the rotation due to injuries, Gordon Hayward, one of the league's most underrated players, scored a team-high 21 points with nine assists, leading the Jazz to a commanding 108-86 win over the Nets. The Nets fell to 11-33 on the season, their fifth straight loss while the Jazz improved to 19-24, a half-game out of the 8th spot in the west.

Hayward scored 10 of his 21 in the 1st quarter alone, hitting four of his first five shots which included two threes. Despite Haywards hot-start, the Nets, surprisingly enough got off to a good start. They held a narrow one-point lead over the Jazz going into the second quarter, but like most of the Nets losses this year, the 2nd half continues to be a problem and on Friday night that fact was validated once again.

The Nets gave up a whopping 37 points to their 17 in the third quarter. After ending the 2nd quarter on a run, the Jazz‘s offensive success carried over to the beginning of the third where they would enjoy a 13-4 run in the first five minutes of the quarter. Rudy Gobert, who provided highlights all night on both ends, along with Rodney Hood, Raul Neto and Trey Lyles are all responsible for increasing what was a reasonable eight-point lead to a 17-point advantage with a little over seven minutes left in the third.

Moments later, the Nets would call a 20-second timeout to regroup, with under five minutes to go, while hopefully disrupting the Jazz’s momentum but it didn’t matter. Seconds later, Hayward would evade Thaddeus Young, using a nifty crossover dribble between his legs, drive baseline, and convert a beautiful reverse layup, putting the Jazz up by 20, 71-51 with 4:23 left in the third.

“He’s scoring the ball and drawing a lot of attention now and the guy is stepping up and knocking down shots when they come to him,” said Hood reflecting on Hayward’s big night. “He’s just being aggressive, being who he is, being who he’s been all season really.”

It signaled one of the highlights of the game. It signaled what was going right for Hayward and the Jazz who clearly did not want to leave NY 0-2 after losing to the New York Knicks in OT on Wednesday night. It signaled another Nets loss. The Jazz would continue to pile on the points in the third entering the fourth with a 28-point lead, 85-57. Hood finished with 16 points, and Gobert, Neto and Lyles all chipped in 10 points each.

When the final buzzer sounded, the crowd treated the Nets like a Knicks loss during the Isiah Thomas era. The boos rained down on the home team and it felt like some of the darkest days the Knicks had to endure during that era.

It was too bad because the Brooklyn Nets had an encouraging first quarter. Every Nets starter scored, except Donald Sloan who recorded four assists. After that, the offense fell apart.

“I thought we had a good rhythm to start the game, and after the first quarter, we kind of lost it,” Brooklyn Nets head coach Tony Brown said post-game.

Brown continued to say that after giving up 37 points in the third quarter, the game was over which compelled him to give some minutes to other guys like Sergey Karasev and in the process, ending Brook Lopez’s night. The team’s best player scored eight points in just 19 minutes of play which could be one of his worst outings of the year. Bojan Bogdanovic led the Nets with 14 points coming off of the bench which is a major problem.

Joe Johnson wasn’t much of a factor scoring only eight points and Sloan ended his night with just two points. Offensively, the Nets are definitely challenged but it doesn’t help that the team is struggling to take care of the orange as well. The Nets only committed 11 turnovers on Friday night but it’s the timing of the turnovers that are hurting the Nets the most.

“The same song and story as it’s been the last couple of games,” a dejected Young said in the locker-room. “We get off to good starts, we have good first halves then in the second half we’ll have two or three crucial turnovers that kind of turns the momentum of the game and it just slips away from us.”

As bad as this year has gone for the Nets with no letup in sight as they host the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat in their next two games before they head westward, Brown is not giving up on his squad.

Brown wants to continue encouraging the guys to do things the right way.

“I am not going to change my approach,” Brown said. “I am going to keep coaching, but you know, there is some soul-searching to be done. I am going to keep fighting, I just hope they do.”

Don’t, we all.

Despite Nets’ loss to Trailblazers, Donald Sloan and Thomas Robinson injected much-needed energy

On Wednesday night, the Brooklyn Nets caught a break when Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony didn’t suit up. They took advantage of the Knicks lacking their star player and defeated their surging rivals, 110-104, their second game since general manager Billy King and head coach Lionel Hollins were relieved of their duties. On Friday night against the Portland Trailblazers, the Nets weren’t afforded the same luck.

Damian Lillard, a star in his own right, suited up and showed the Nets exactly how a star manages his game. Lillard poured in a game-high 33 points, with 10 assists leading the Blazers to an 116-104 win over the lowly Nets. Lillard scored throughout the game but did most of his best work when it counted the most.

In the 4th quarter, Lillard scored more points than he scored in any other quarter with 14 points and made big plays down the stretch that inevitably sealed the Nets to their fate. With just under eight minutes left in the 4th, Lillard drained a jump shot that cut, what was a brief four-point Nets lead, 92-88 to 92-90. Minutes later, Lillard hit a three to give the Blazers a one-point, 93-92 advantage with a little over seven minutes left till the end of regulation.

“I’m just in one of those grooves where the game is just in flow,” Lillard said. “I just feel good out there and the way we’re playing as a team only makes it easier.”

Lillard’s three would spark a 10-2 Blazers run over the next three minutes featuring five points by Lillard and a three by Allen Crabbe who finished with 19 points. The Blazers laid down the ground work to coast till the buzzer sounded and once again, the Nets tasted defeat. Under interim head coach Tony Brown, the Nets have played inspiring basketball, so far, and tonight was no different.

The Nets competed and were in this game. They gave themselves an opportunity to win but like the majority of their games this year, late game execution, whether it’s defending or scoring, continues to be the Nets biggest issue.

“Down the stretch, we just struggled defending.” Brown said post-game.

And the evidence is proven by the Blazers shooting 42 percent from three (15-35) and 50 percent from the field (47-93).

The Nets actually shot the same percentage from deep but only made eight threes and from the field, the Nets shot 44 percent. On a night where every starter for the Nets reached double-figures including two bench players, the Nets still came up short. Brook Lopez led all Nets players with 25 points and seven rebounds and Joe Johnson scored 15 points with four assists. The most encouraging performances came from Thomas Robinson and Donald Sloan.

Robinson gave the Nets the much-needed energy and fire the team lacked. He made the hustle plays on the boards and had some great moments, especially early in the fourth when Robinson scored five straight points which put the Nets up by four, 90-86, forcing a Blazers timeout with 9:18 left in the 4th.

“Thomas Robinson had a wonderful night,” Brown said. “His energy really helped us get back in the ballgame.”

Sloan on the other hand, gave the Nets great play from the lead guard position. The former Aggie almost posted a triple-double, 15 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and seemed to be the answer as the Nets starter going forward opposed to Shane Larkin who struggled all night long, finishing with two points.

There are a lot of things the Nets need after losing their G.M. and head coach all in the same week and recent reports state that the Nets are looking to fill the void. The Nets are linked to Bryan Colangelo and coach, Tom Thibodeau, known for running his players into the ground. In Thib, the Nets will have one of the best coaches in the NBA. They would have an identity, and that’s something worth investing in.

Brook Lopez won the battle of the brothers; Thaddeus Young had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and the ghost of Joe Johnson returned

The Brooklyn Nets took advantage of New York Knicks minus forward Carmelo “Melo” Anthony on Wednesday night and beat the Knicks 110-104, snapping a season-high 10-game home losing streak. It was the Nets’ third straight home victory over the Knicks.

In a game with lots of story lines, first is Nets’ interim coach Tony Brown’s first victory overall. Brown inherited the interim coach position on Sunday when former Nets head coach Lionel Hollins lost his position.

Perhaps, the Nets going into this game believed that they could win, Melo or no Melo, considering they have won five of the last six games against the Knicks. Perhaps, it was a new head coach with a new philosophy and new demeanor, but the Nets seemed to play with more energy and more swagger.

Bojan Bogdanovic came off the bench in the first quarter on three-point fire; knocking down 3 three-pointers in three minutes 11 seconds of play. Overall, Bogdanovic scored 14 points and four rebounds in just under 23 minutes of playing time.

Nets center Brook Lopez won the battle of the brothers, as he was more productive than his brother Robin Lopez. In 29:32 minutes of play, Brook scored 20 points, five assists, and eight rebounds to Robin’s nine points and 12 rebounds in 30:40 minutes of play.

Brooklyn Nets forward Thaddeus Young had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Shane Larkin, who didn’t start in place of injured Jarrett Jack, put up 17 points, five assists, and two rebounds. Joe Johnson, who is still the subject of trade rumors and looked like the Joe Johnson of previous seasons, he made two key jumpers in the final 2 minutes and finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Point guard Wayne Ellington chipped in 10 points, two assists, and two rebounds.

The electricity in the air at the Barclays Center was palpable. Celebrity row actually had celebrities. R&B singer Maxwell was in the house promoting his upcoming concert with rapper Nas. New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, who was cheered at the opening of the Barclays Center, was roundly booed; probably by disappointed Giants fans. Even former Knicks player Andrea Bargnani got booed, but surprisingly, not Shane Larkin another former Knick. At times, there was a battle of the fans, as Knicks fans made their presence known. Nets fans may have been outnumbered, but most of the evening, they were not shrinking violets.

"Games like this, it's going to help turn our fan base around," Brown said. "If we continue to play in this kind of fashion, we'll fill the seats, but we've got to show them first. It'll take time, but tonight was a good start."

In defeat, Knicks forward Derrick Williams came off the bench and led all scorers and tied his career high 31 points. Other Knicks players scoring in double digits were Arron Afflalo with 18 points; Jose Calderon added 16 points and wonder-kid Kristaps Porzingis, who shot just 5 for 17, chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"On nights like this when we don't have (Anthony), I can't have a shooting night like this," Porzingis said. "I've got to step up. I've got to score the ball more."

Looks like the stars aligned for the Nets.

Next up for the Nets will be the Portland Trailblazers on Friday.

The Nets drop 8th straight at home with 91-74 loss to Raptors

It’s a bit unsettling, but it appears that the Brooklyn Nets are in free-fall motion, losing their eighth straight home game against the Toronto Raptors. 91-74.

The Nets haven’t won at home since they played the 76ers on December 10; which is quite troubling. Also, the team’s 74 points are the lowest points scored all season. Somebody ring the alarm bells.

Toronto came into this game, having lost two games, but are still first in the Atlantic Division and tied for fourth place in the Eastern Conference with Atlanta. The game started off decently enough for the Nets, considering they are playing without Jarrett Jack and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. They ended the first quarter with only a seven-point deficit (24-17) and 4 of 7 shooting from behind the arc in the first half.

In a game that was tied three times and with three lead changes, it became increasingly clear that the Nets just didn’t have the firepower to keep it close even in defeat. Three Nets players scored in double digits, Brook Lopez led all scorers with 24 points and 13 boards; Bojan Bogdanovic, who is rumored to be on the trading block, scored 12 points, and Thaddeus Young chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds. Newly-minted starting point guard Shane Larkin put up nine points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Four bench players scored a total of 13 points.

Joe Johnson’s level of production has been dismal this season. He seems to have been missing in action in far too many games. At least this game, he had a stated reason for only scoring five points and two rebounds – a bruised left quad. Johnson was scoreless until hitting a 3-pointer in the third quarter.

On the other hand, the Raptors, a team that the Nets have matched pretty evenly in the last several years, bounced back from its two losses rather convincingly. Jonas Valanciunas returning from a broken finger lifted Toronto with his 22 points, 11 rebounds. Kyle Lowry added 17 points from field goal range, along with eight rebounds and six assists, and DeMar DeRozan appended 15.

Brooklyn Nets head coach Lionel Hollins summed up the Nets loss this way, “Their quickness just dominated. We couldn’t move the ball from side to side; they took away a lot of our ball movement. We had spurts where we were able to do it, but we weren’t able to do it consistently. We missed a lot of easy shots and it got us in a hole and then we battled back and in the second half they just kept grinding us out.”

With Jack out for the season, Hollis-Jefferson out until March, and Johnson providing minimal production, it’s going to be an ugly season for Brooklyn.

The Nets play Orlando on Friday.

Nets Offense Fails in the 4th Quarter; Johnson and Larkin Miss Key Shots

In the 4th quarter, with a little over a minute left until the end of regulation, Brooklyn Nets Joe Johnson and Shane Larkin missed back-to-back threes that would have cut what was a nine-point, 83-74 deficit to six. Even with a made shot, the Nets would still have had an uphill climb in capturing the win. However, the missed shots put a spotlight on the struggles the Nets have had this season in late-game offensive execution.

On Friday night, Victor Oladipo and Nikola Vucevic each scored 20 points and handed the Nets an 83-77 loss, their ninth straight loss at home and 3rd straight to the Magic.

It was the Nets 3rd straight loss (10-26), losing seven of their last ten games while the Magic (20-17) snapped a four-game losing streak. Once again, making plays late when they matter the most, has doomed the Nets. With 6:48 left in the 4th quarter, Brook Lopez shot a floater off of a penetration feed from Larkin.

He missed, received his own rebound, fought against Vucevic and got a hook-shot to go, tying the contest at 68 all, two of his team-high 17 points. Following the bucket, the Nets were held scoreless from the field for the next five minutes. At the most critical juncture of the game, the Nets would miss their next three shots, commit two turnovers and worst of all, fail to stop Orlando’s youth movement.

Aaron Gordon and Oladipo took turns nailing the coffin, featuring two threes’ from Oladipo and four points from Gordon. Evan Fournier who scored 13 points also added a three in the midst of a 13-2 run until Thaddeus Young stopped the bleeding with the Nets second FG in 5 minutes. During the Magic’s run, Lopez connected on two free-throws while the Nets offense fell flat.

“…In the last quarter, we just couldn’t make a play, couldn’t make a shot and again we come away with a loss,” Nets head coach Lionel Hollins said post-game also claiming that he sounds like a broken record.

To begin the game, the Nets looked like the team that would eventually lose, falling to an early double-digit lead in the first quarter. In the second and third, the Nets found better results. They battled back by increasing their defensive pressure, got out in transition and shot 80 percent from the free-throw line.

They even led by five towards the end of the third and early in the fourth. But they couldn’t hold onto it and the credit goes to the Magic’s defense for not allowing the Nets to build a substantial advantage.

“Our defense got a little bit tighter,” Magic head coach Scott Skiles said following the win. “We were playing so hard on the defensive end that I felt it took a little juice out of our offense. We were getting it up the court a little too slow. The clock winding down on us, but we were able to make a couple of shots and you need to make those.”

According to Young who scored 11 points and nine rebounds, the Nets just have to make plays.

“We just have to execute. Execute, make shots,” Young said post-game. “We had great opportunities at the basket.”

Unfortunately, the Nets had trouble finishing their opportunities at the basket. Another reason why the Nets had trouble stopping Orlando was their 3-point percentages for this game. Oladipo, who led the Magic in made threes with four, and the rest of his team drained 13 threes of 27 attempts, good for 48 percent while the Nets could not match, shooting 31 percent from long-range and 39 percent in field goals.

After another game, another loss, the Nets are stuck asking about the same problems, and in the end, have nothing to show for it.

“It gets frustrating, but you have to keep continuing to push it, keep continuing to push it, keep continuing to play and keep trying take positives from these games, Young added.”

Until the Nets win the fourth quarter, nights like Friday night will continue to occur and it gets even tougher on Monday night when they host the Southwest Division-leading San Antonio Spurs.

Celtics’ Crowder's Big Night Dooms Nets; Shane Larkin Stumbles in Starting Role in Jarrett Jack’s Absence

As the temperature drops in Brooklyn so has the climate surrounding the Brooklyn Nets. On Saturday in a win against the Boston Celtics, 100-97, the Nets lost their starting point guard Jarrett Jack for the remainder of the season, to a torn ACL which he suffered late in the third quarter. On a freezing Monday night in Brooklyn, the Boston Celtics took advantage of Jack’s absence and just added to what has become a miserable season for the Barclays Center’s only professional basketball club.

The Celtics' Jae Crowder and all of his dreads scored a team-high 25 points and six rebounds, leading the C’s to a 103-94 victory over the Nets, winning the other half of the home-and-home series. Crowder started his big night as early as the first quarter, scoring 14 points which helped facilitate the Celtics (19-15) in creating distance, ending the first 12 mins of the game with a 37-22 lead. Despite his strong start, the play’s Crowder made towards the end of the game hurt the Nets (10-24) the most and proved to be the deciding factor in the games result.

When the Nets made their attempts to threaten the Celtics dominance in this game, as well as their chance at winning, Crowder answered the bell. Joe Johnson, who did a little bit of everything scoring 21 points with six rebounds and four assists, drained a big eight-foot jump shot with three mins left in the 4th which cut the Celtics lead to five, 90-85. In response, Crowder sinks a long-range bomb, increasing the C’s lead to eight, 93-85 with a little under three mins left in the final quarter.

“He’s hit big shots for us all year,” Celtics Head Coach Brad Stevens said reflecting on Crowder. “He’s not afraid of the moment and he stepped up.”

A minute later, the Nets would find themselves needing a stop, trailing by six, 95-89 and there was Crowder again, making the Nets pay-converting a driving layup and an and-1 to put the C’s up for good 98-89. And for the exclamation point, the Celtics next two points highlighted Marcus Smart, who drove to the rim with a minute left in the 4th and added a beautiful-acrobatic-reverse layup, avoiding Brook Lopez, which put the C’s up by nine, 100-91.

Late game execution continues to be a problem for the Nets but there is no doubt that Lionel Hollins and co. did not get off to the start that they would have hoped to. In the 1st quarter alone, the Nets committed eight turnovers which led to 10 Celtics points.

“We turned the ball over a lot, and that got them out on the open court kind of playing the game at their pace and so, obviously, it’s tough to put yourself in that position and come back from it,” Brook Lopez said post-game, scoring 19 points to the Nets cause.

Fortunately for the Celtics, their strong start was enough to propel them to the win, as their first quarter alone was more points than the Nets could ever rival throughout their entire game. To their credit, the Nets did outscore the C’s in every quarter following the 1st, but the damage was done.

“We just couldn’t make enough plays to get all the way back,” a disappointed Hollins said post-game. Hollins also does not want to associate the Nets lack of ball-control to the loss of Jack, stating that “there is always a rationalization for anything bad that happens” and simply, “we have to keep working and get better.”

In Jack’s place, Shane Larkin assumed the starting role and didn’t have the most dazzling performance like his counterpart, Isaiah Thomas, who added 19 points and seven assists, the second leading scorer on the C’s.

Larkin struggled to create for himself and for his teammates, ending his night with four points, two assists while criticizing his lack of aggressiveness to his low production.

“I’ve just got to go out there and play my game and stop thinking so much and just play,” Larkin said post-game. “I’ve shown I can do it. I’ve had great games this year, I’ve had not so good games this year. I’ve just got to stay being aggressive and just be consistent for my team and it’ll be better for sure.”

Larkin’s comments could be the theme of the Nets profile as a team this year. One of the few bright spots on the Nets continues to be the play of Thaddeus Young who chipped in a double-double, 23 and 15 rebounds to lead all Nets scorers. Jack's injury will force the Nets to take turns being the playmaker, especially in the backcourt, which could result in Johnson handling the ball a little more and tonight was a perfect example of that.

The Nets will host the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm.

Heat Takes Control of the Second Half and Dwyane Wade Closes

Tonight’s game hosting the Miami Heat wasn’t Monday night’s blowout loss to the Orlando Magic. The Brooklyn Nets were in it to win it for the majority of Wednesday’s contest but towards the end of regulation, a particular star showed up and he wasn’t sporting a Brooklyn jersey. Dwyane Wade scored six of his team-high 28 points in the final six minutes of the 4th quarter propelling the Heat to a narrow 104-98 win against the struggling Nets.

The Heat improved to (15-9), their third straight win while the Nets continue to look for answers, falling to (7-18). Late in the 4th, the Nets had several opportunities to get in the win column and end their two-game losing streak, but Wade would have no part of it. He did what superstars do.

He closed.

When Thaddeus Young scored to get the Nets to within two points, down 87-89 with 5:58 left in the 4th, Wade drained a 12-foot jumper putting the Heat up by four, 91-87 at the 5:11 mark. Moments later, the Nets would turn the ball over and Wade took advantage, putting the Heat up by six, 93-87 just under five min left until the end of regulation. Wade would hit two more jumpers putting the Heat up by eight and 10 points respectively, and it just seemed like when he scored late, it hurt more than any of his fellow teammates prior.

“This is what he’s built his career on,” Heat head coach, Erick Spoelstra said post-game. “To be able to attack, to read defenses, to be able to make shots.”

Even Nets head coach, Lionel Hollins acknowledged that there was nothing they could do to cool him off.

“Well, you could decide to go double him and hopefully he passes it, but even when he did that, (Justise) Winslow hit a three, the other kid (Goran) Dragic hit a three earlier before he got to the end and that puts a little bit of caution in trying to go down there and just double-team him and taking the ball out,” Hollins said during his post-game press conference.

“He’s a great player,” Hollins added.

Chris Bosh, who scored seven, gets a front-row seat to the Wade show every night.

“He did pull a couple of things out of the bag and it was great,” Bosh said in the visitor’s locker-room.

Fortunately for the Nets, Brook Lopez validated why he’s great player also. After a disappointing outing against the Magic and Nikola Vucevic, Lopez scored 16 of his team-high 25 points in the first half, against Hassan Whiteside, who averages four blocks a game.

“It was huge for him confidence-wise to come out and play well,” Hollins said. “We need him to continue to play well offensively, but I thought he did some other stuff as well, but scoring wise he did real good.”

And Lopez’s start spearheaded the Nets 1st half surge. The Nets got off to a great start, finishing the 1st quarter with an eight-point lead, up 30-22. Every starter not named Joe Johnson contributed.

In the second, more of the same ensued. The Nets showed some fight. Even Wayne Ellington got into the act, scoring eight of his 12 in the second alone, including three straight baskets which kept the Nets ahead of the Heat. It didn’t take long until the Heat, who lead the Southeast division woke up. With 2:34 left until halftime, Goran Dragic and co. would score points leading a 9-4 run to put the Heat up by five, 55-50 going into the second half, which capped off a 33-point 2nd to regain control of the game.

And that run to end the 1st half, would carry the Heat into the second half, as they coasted, for the most part, exploiting the Nets with good ball movement. When it counted the most, Heat players turned to Wade and he delivered, which was nothing new. Other than Lopez, Jarrett Jack added a double-double (22 points and 10 assists) and Andrea Bargnani had some moments, chipping in with 10. You know what could’ve helped? Johnson producing more than five points in 33 min of play. You know what also could’ve helped? The Nets fouling after Wade put the Heat up by five, 103-98 with 43.5 secs left in the 4th.

“I told them that we needed to foul, I mean, come on,” Hollins said. “You got to foul. I got caught looking at something else, and when I looked over everybody is looking at me, but that kind of stuff happens.”

For the Nets sake, it doesn’t need to happen.

The Nets will get a day off today and on Friday will face another star. The Nets will visit Paul George and the 3rd seeded Indiana Pacers which presents another challenge. Every night seems like an uphill climb for the Nets. It is up to them whether or not that will continue and looking at their upcoming schedule beyond the Pacers, (Timberwolves on Sunday, Bulls on Monday, Mavericks on Wednesday), it just might.

With forced turnovers, bad shooting, and Brook Lopez not a huge factor, the Brooklyn Nets struggled against a young and athletic Orlando Magic

On Star Wars night at the Barclays Center, the force was clearly with the Orlando Magic, opposed to the host, Brooklyn Nets. To demonstrate how badly thing went for the Nets, lets skip to the 4th quarter. Nikola Vucevic, Elfrid Payton and the rest of the Magic’s starters sat comfortably on the sidelines while the second unit finished the game because the damage to the Nets had already been done.

A second half surge revolving around defense, steals, and a consistent offensive effort, enabled the Magic to hand the Nets their second straight loss in a convincing fashion, 105-82 on Monday night.

The Magic improved to (13-11) on the season, while the Nets fell to (7-17), their third loss in the last five games.

Prior to tonight's game, Joe Johnson told What’s The 411Sports that the Nets would have to get off to a good start and keep their turnovers down. During the first half of the game, Johnson’s pregame strategy came into fruition. The Nets battled with Orlando, keeping it close and competitive, down by seven entering halftime up 52-45. In the 3rd, it all fell apart for the Nets.

Their offense struggled to keep up with the young and athletic Magic, and turnovers in addition to bad shooting, prevented the Nets from protecting their home-court. Facing an uphill climb in the fourth down by 14 points, the Nets would miss their first four shots, while the Magic enjoyed a 13-4 run, led by Andrew Nicholson who scored 10 of his 15 total points, in the 4th quarter alone.

The Magic converted eight forced turnovers into eight points while the Nets offense couldn’t find their rhythm. Even though six players scored in double-figures for the Nets, Brook Lopez, the team’s best player, on his star wars bobble-head night, wasn’t much of a factor recording 11 points total for the game.

“I definitely take responsibility for this one,” Lopez said post-game. “I felt I was a complete negative for our team. I kind of let us down, pulled us back. I definitely need to be better and know I can be. I was very frustrating.”

Where Lopez struggled, Vucevic, his counterpart flourished. The former USC Trojan scored his team-high 18 points in 27 min, 12 of which came in the 3rd. All 12 of Vucevic’s points helped extend what was a seven-point Magic lead to a double-digit advantage, setting up the second unit, who served as the clean-up crew in the 4th.

Payton, who also had a fine game-scoring 17 points and five assists-torched the Nets on the perimeter. Tobias Harris added 15 points and nine rebounds and Victor Oladipo punched in 10.

For the Nets, Jarrett Jack led all scorers with 15 points and described the Nets locker-room following the loss as “Disappointed.”

“We just didn’t perform with the necessary effort to be competitive in the game,” Jack said. “You do that, you get these embarrassing types of losses.”

Thaddeus Young, who finished his night with 10 points, also acknowledged the Nets lack of effort.

“They just played harder than us.” Young said following the loss. “They played harder than us, and they got to all the loose balls. They got to everything they wanted to do within their sets and they took away a lot of stuff that we wanted to do and forced us into tough, difficult shots that we didn’t make.”

The Nets, as a team, shot 38 percent from the field validating the Magic commitment to defense, a testament to their head coach, Scott Skiles, who lives and breathes it.

When most of your core players are questioning the effort of the team, that’s a problem, and the Nets owning one of the worst records in the league doesn’t make it any better.

Wednesday night, the Nets will host the (14-9) Miami Heat, who are in a two-way tie for first place in the southeast division.