Nets Couldn't Handle Charging of Bulls in 2nd Playoff Game

In a dramatic turn of events, the Chicago Bulls has evened the first round of its playoff run against the Brooklyn Nets 1-1, as they dominated the Nets, 90-82 Monday night.

Bulls head-coach Tom Thibodeau said in a pregame press conference that Joakim Noah would be playing limited minutes, but that did not stop the Bulls from giving the Nets a beat down on its home court.

Brooklyn's fans were loud and proud, chanting "Brooooklllyn," the entire game, but the Nets did not match up to the momentum that their loyal fans displayed.

All-Star Deron Williams shot 1-9 and finished with eight points, the same amount of points as Kris Humphries. Williams had 10 assists.

"We didn't get stops, which was the key for us because then we couldn't get out and run like we wanted to," Williams said. "We have to do a better job defensively next game. I've got to do a better job of everything really. This was a bad one for me."

Joe Johnson, who also seemed quiet on the floor went 6-for-18 and finished with 17 points.

Brook Lopez who played 35 minutes scored 21 points.

Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo who seemed at ease and jittery during pregame interviews said before the game that his team had the bigger advantage on Saturday, when they beat Bulls 106-89.

"We weren't playing against the normal Chicago defense," he said.

Carlesimo was right. This time around, Chicago tightened up its defense and the Nets suffered from careless turnovers and couldn't stabilize a steady shooting rhythm.

Although Brooklyn didn't come out with the win, fans were excited to see Bulls' point guard Derrick Rose shooting around on the court moments before the game. Rose, who injured his left knee, which resulted in a torn ACL on April 28, 2012 in the first game of last season's playoffs, has not played at all this season.

Thibodeau said that Rose would most likely be sitting on the bench for the entire postseason.

The Nets will travel to Chicago for the third game of the playoffs on Thursday.

Can Knicks center Tyson Chandler make up for his missed free-throw against the Bulls? Breaking down the New York Knicks vs. Minnesota Timberwolves preview

The 2013-14 NBA season is upon us once again and the New York Knicks and their fans are looking for a championship this season. As team orange and blue gets ready to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves, one game on the road to hopefully snagging the Larry Obryan Trophy in June, let's do a recap.

Looking Back

The Knicks opened their campaign with an unimpressive 90-83 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at home. On the second game of a back-to-back, the Knicks came two points short of a morale-boosting win against the Chicago Bulls. The Knicks lost a heartbreaker to the Bulls, 81-82. One of the culprits for the loss was a missed free-throw shot by center Tyson Chandler with 10.8 seconds left in the 4th quarter. A bucket could have sent the game into overtime and then with a higher basketball IQ in place and perhaps, luck, a win.

If there are any positives to take away from this loss is that the Knicks can hang with a top tier team in the Eastern Conference. However, on the flip side, Carmelo Anthony and the guys are still dogged by the failure of registering a win against Chicago in five straight contests dating back to last season. What's ironic about the Knicks' struggles against the Bulls is that they have enjoyed overwhelming success against the Miami Heat, the reigning defending champions. The Knicks took three of four victories against the South Beach kids last season.

The Knicks are an enigma, but aren't we all? All-in-all, it's too early in this brand new season to label the Knicks. The team has experienced a roster overhaul replacing nine players from last season to this season's reduced collection of seven additions most notably rookie guard Tim Hardaway Jr., forward Andrea Bargnani, forward Metta World Peace, and JR Smith's little brother Chris, also a guard. So the Knicks need time to gel.

Looking Forward

Tomorrow evening, the Knicks will return home to host a Western Conference opponent, the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7:30 pm in the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. Unlike the Knicks, the Timberwolves have yet to experience defeat. They are currently sitting at the top of the Western Conference undefeated at 2-0. They defeated the Orlando Magic in overtime 120-115 and the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-81. Although the Knicks have made significant alterations to their roster gaining youth opposed to last year's AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), the Timberwolves are still younger and probably faster.

Floor General Ricky Rubio, a Spanish import, has established himself as one of the premier point guards in this game due to his advanced ability to find teammates anywhere on the court for easy baskets. He is capable of dominating the game by passing exclusively. Forward Kevin Love, who missed a substantial amount of time last season due to a variety of injuries enters this season relatively healthy. He's looking forward to reminding us all who the best power forward is in the game today behind Spurs future Hall-of-Famer Tim Duncan. The rest of the wolves feature a well-balanced team in bigs, wingmen, and guards that include rebounding machine F Nikola Pekovic, F Dante Cunningham, F Derrick Williams, F Corey Brewer, F Chase Budinger, G Kevin Martin, and rookies G Shabazz Muhammad and C Gorgui Dieng.

The Western conference in totality has remained consistent in providing a tough night for any team and that's what I believe the Knicks are in for.

The Wolves are going to look to run as they have the personnel to rebound and push the break. Star players always salivate at the opportunity to play in the Mecca of Basketball. I expect Love to take full advantage in showcasing his skills. I expect the Knicks to come out hungry to relieve the stress of receiving a loss to the Bulls earlier this week. They will offer a spirited effort in their return from a one-game road trip. Every night Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony steps on the hardwood, the NBA community, as well as the fans, expect a scoring clinic and I expect Anthony to deliver the goods. The Wolves desire to be taken seriously within the Western Conference and the Knicks are anxious to step foot on the basketball court to avenge their previous loss. Expect a good quality and grind-it-out back and forth contest.

Nets Beat Chicago Bulls 107-106; Brook Lopez on the verge of breaking a Brooklyn Nets record to become the all-time leading scorer in Nets history

The Brooklyn Nets ended its last home game of the regular NBA season last night at the Barclays Center, pretty much as it started the season, with a win! Before a sold-out crowd of 17,732 people, the Nets hung tough to beat the Chicago Bulls 107-106. And, this wasn’t a game where the Bulls could go easy on the Nets trying to preserve their energy for the playoffs. The Bulls had to play hard as they are in a tie with the Miami Heat for the last place spot for an NBA playoff opportunity. The Bulls desperately needed this win. If the Bulls miss the playoffs, this would be two consecutive seasons that they didn’t make it.

But, let’s get back to B-r-o-o-k-l-y-n. The Nets are now 11-11 since March 1 and have won four of their last five games.

So how did the Nets beat the Bulls who are desperately looking to get a playoff spot?

From the top line, Brooklyn recorded a season-high 15 steals, and 10 were in the first half. The Nets edged the Bulls 24-14 in assists while outscoring Chicago 42-36 in points in the paint and 19-7 in fast break points.

Now, here are more details. The Brooklyn Nets ended the first quarter leading the Chicago Bulls 32-25. Although the Nets were up by six at the half (51-45), the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler led all scorers with 13 points at half-time. At the end of the third quarter with the Bulls leading 82-75, it appeared that the Nets’ ghost of the third quarter had reared its ugly head to torpedo a positive outcome. But the Nets became the comeback kings in the fourth. The Bulls allowed the Nets to score 32 points in the fourth quarter and was only able to put up 24 points of their own. The ending was thrilling. Spencer Dinwiddie hit a three with 1:23 left in regulation to tie the game at 101-101. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made two free throws at the 54-second mark to give the Nets the lead 103-101. At 31 seconds, Butler hits a step-back jump shot to tie the game at 103-103. With 13 seconds left, Dinwiddie comes back to the foul line and hits two free-throws breaking the tie to give the Nets a two-point lead, 105-103. With two seconds left, Bulls’ guard Dwyane Wade fouls and Dinwiddie gets back to line hitting two free throws and the Nets go up 107-103. And, with one second left, Butler hits a three, but there is no more time and the Nets win 107-106.

Caris LeVert and Dinwiddie each scored 19 points for the Nets. Although LeVert, a rookie, did not score in the second quarter, he ended the game with his 19 points on 7-of-11 field goals, and 4-of-7 from three-point land. He also had 5 rebounds in 25 minutes. In addition to his 19 points, Dinwiddie had three rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 26 minutes. Overall, Dinwiddie is a very efficient player; he’s averaging 11.0 points per game (.574 FG, .474 3FG, .806 FT) in 22.1 minutes per game in his last eight contests. And, last night against the Bulls, Dinwiddie was solid, not buckling under pressure.

Other Nets players in double digits were Hollis-Jefferson, who tallied his seventh double-double of the season with 16 points (5-of-8 FG, 6-of-7 FT) and a game-high 12 rebounds in 30 minutes. And, if that wasn’t enough, Hollis-Jefferson also recorded three assists and three steals vs. the Bulls. Brook Lopez scored 13 points and four rebounds in 31 minutes. Lopez is now 22 points away from passing Buck Williams to become the all-time leading scorer in Nets history. Jeremy Lin added 12 points with six rebounds, seven assists, and three steals in 29 minutes.

“The word we’ve been using all year is the team is resilient,” said Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. “…The guys stuck together. Guys made some big plays; Caris (LeVert) made some big plays, Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson) came in and made some big plays, Spencer (Dinwiddie) obviously was really big. But I just liked our spirit, how we kept after it. I felt we kept defending, that was a key. They hit some tough shots – (Jimmy) Butler hit some tough shots – but we stuck with it and finally started to get some shots to go down.”

Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler led all scorers with 33points.

"We're still in this thing, they're a good team,” Butler told reporters after the game regarding the Bulls’ playoff chances. “They've been playing as well as anybody. They've got guys who played incredibly hard. We lost, there's nothing we can really do about it right now. We have to go get better. We were saying how we needed to get this one today and now we need these next two (games)."

Next, up for the Nets, they travel to Boston to play the Celtics on Monday, April 10, and then their last game of the season is in Chicago against the Bulls on Wednesday, April 12. And that my friends, will be the last day of the season for the Brooklyn Nets.

Based on the way the Nets are playing right now, if everyone can stay relatively healthy and they continue to develop the cohesiveness that we are witnessing right now, next season they will no longer be in the NBA basement. In fact, they may even be playoff bound.

Brook Lopez hit the buzzer beater over Pistons' Aron Baynes to lift the Nets to a 98-96 win over the Pistons

It was a night of firsts at the Barclays Center. It was my first basketball game, and it was Brook Lopez's first ever buzzer-beating game winner as the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Detroit Pistons 98-96. The game was competitive all throughout, as the Detroit Pistons are fighting for their playoff lives. Coming into the game the Pistons were tied for the 8th seed with the Miami Heat.

The Pistons played tough through the 1st quarter leading 31-22. Led by Long Island native Tobias Harris with 12 points in the first quarter, the Pistons dominated the points in the paint scoring 18 of their 31 points. Defensively, the Nets toughened up in the 2nd quarter and started hitting their shots, improving their free throw percentage from 29% to 40%. While keeping control of the ball, the Nets only had 3 turnovers and held the Pistons to only 13 points in the second quarter, matching the fewest points the Nets have allowed in any quarter this season. Nets rookie Caris LeVert led the team with 10 points by halftime and the Nets took the lead 50-44.

The third quarter was dominated by the Nets; Lopez scoring 8 points in the quarter, the Nets would take their biggest lead of the night. The fourth quarter, the Pistons started their comeback. Harris led the team in total points with 24 and Andre Drummond had himself a double-double with 13 points and team-high 17 rebounds. Drummond would leave the game in the 4th after suffering a knee injury. They scored 31 points in the 4th quarter. After Harris hit an 8 ft. jumper to tie the game up at 96-96 with 2.4 seconds left, Brook Lopez hit the buzzer beater over Pistons' Aron Baynes with a 10 ft. back-foot jumper to win the game for the Nets for their 14th victory of the season. It was the Nets 2nd buzzer-beating win this season. Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie had a career-high 8 rebounds as a starter tonight. Nets starting guard Jeremy Lin was out due to a sprained right ankle.

After the game, Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said about Lopez's shot, "Brook made a heck of a play. It was more of a catch and shoot but he took a dribble, knew how much time was left and made a heck of a shot. It's more about Brook being a heck of a player."

Brook Lopez said he was very confident in his final shot saying, "It felt good. We executed so well on that last play which is something that we've learned throughout the season to do."

Lopez has now scored 20+ points in each of the last 6 games.

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said about Lopez's game winner "I thought the defense was pretty good on it... I didn't think Brooklyn got a great, clean look. He's 7'2" and he made a hell of a shot... I don't think there was anything more we could've done on it."
This loss for the Pistons hurt their playoff chances as the Miami Heat won against the Phoenix Suns. They fall a game behind the now 8th and final playoff spot now held by the Heat.

Stan Van Gundy said about the Pistons offense, "our ball movement is sporadic at best. Our offensive energy is not good."

The Pistons look to recapture that offensive spark when they play against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, March 22nd. The Bulls are just one game behind the Pistons who are also looking to make the playoffs.

The Nets are now 5-7 for the month of March, their best month this season.

Atkinson said after the game, "We're trying to improve on our habits. We have set things that we want to do and we've kind of set the groundwork on how we want to play and now it's just reinforcing those habits, doing it for a longer period of time."

The Nets will look to get their first 2nd straight win this season when they go up against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, March 23rd.

Nets win game but lose Jeremy Lin to a reinjured left hamstring

Check out the Nets vs. Hornets Video Highlights

With the Brooklyn Nets, you never know what the outcome of the game is going to be. On Monday night, the Nets (7-22) met up with the (17-13) Charlotte Hornets at home at the Barclays Center. The Nets are fourth in the Atlantic Division and the Hornets are leading the Southeast Division. In fact, every team in the Southeast Division has a better record than the Nets. So to think that the Nets might lose this one wouldn’t be too far-fetched.

The Nets trailed the Hornets by nine points (40-31) at the closing of the first quarter, and then again the same point spread at the closing of the first half, Hornets 63 – Nets 54. Given the way that the Nets have been losing steam in the third quarter, it was amazing to see the team keep its composure and close the gap, ending the third stanza with only a five-point deficit 88-83. Equally important was that Nets guard Jeremy Lin re-injured his left hamstring during the third quarter; he abruptly left the game, and the Nets didn’t seem to miss a beat.

It was the fourth quarter where things got very interesting. The Nets showed their Brooklyn Grit; they kept the game close and went back and forth with the lead. Brook Lopez even scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth. Sean Kilpatrick added 10 of his 23 points in the fourth.

As the minutes wound down, and with just under two minutes left in regulation, the score was tied at 111-111. Kilpatrick hit a three, then Hornets center Cody Zeller dropped a cutting dunk to bring the score to 114-113, and then at the 1:06 mark, Nets shooting guard Bojan Bogdanovich hit a three to bring the score to 117-113. With 32 seconds left, Hornets guard Nicolas Batum posted up a three-pointer bringing Charlotte within one at 117-116. Now, at the four-second mark, the home crowd audibly engaged holds their collective breath as Hornets point guard Kemba Walker drives for a layup, but it is blocked by Nets power forward Trevor Booker. However, Zeller grabs the rebound and makes a putback layup putting the Hornets ahead by one point (118-117). Brooklyn calls a timeout to regroup with two seconds remaining on the clock.

When Zeller grabbed the rebound and then made the putback, Nets backup guard Randy Foye, listed at 6-foot-4, was right there; but Foye, no match for the 7-foot center, couldn’t get the block.

But when the timeout was over, Foye redeemed himself.

Foye stationed behind the arc received an inbound pass from Bogdanovich. With just .9 seconds left in regulation, Foye pushed up, released the ball just before the buzzer and drained a three to seal the deal. And, just like that, the Nets stung the Hornets with a 120-118 win.

Making that buzzer beater and winning the game, didn’t stop Foye from feeling a little bit guilty that Zeller got that putback layup to put Charlotte up by one.

“It was my fault,” said Foye, diagramming the team’s defensive scheme. “It’s my fault he got the layup. Trevor [Booker] switched and blocked the shot. I was supposed to block out Zeller.”

“You know, Zeller put that basket down with a few seconds left, but the way our team maintained focus, and our mental strength, was fantastic,” said Lopez. “It was a great validation for our guys.”

It sure was.

Foye’s buzzer-beating three marked his first points in 21 minutes off the bench on Monday night.

In the win, Bogdanovic led all scorers with 26 points. In fact, this was the second game this season that Bogdanovic, Kilpatrick (23 points) and Lopez (21 points) all scored 20 plus points in the same game. The last time was against the Lakers on December 14, 2016.

Booker posted 12 rebounds, Lin scored 17 points before his departure in the third quarter, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson chipped in 10 points.

Brooklyn shot .533 from the field (40-of-75 FG) and .484 from 3-point range (15-of-31 3FG) in the win. The Nets’ .484 shooting from 3-point range marked a season high (previous high: .481 vs. Detroit on 11/2).

In the loss, Charlotte had six players in double digits; Batum had 24 points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals; Jeremy Lamb scored 17 points, and Walker and Zeller each had 15 points.

Next, up, the Nets are on the road to play Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, Washington Wizards on Friday, and then back home to play the Utah Jazz in the New Year on Monday, January 2nd, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.

Jimmy Butler, Rajon Rondo, Dwayne Wade team up to push back Nets 118-88

The Chicago Bulls came into the Barclays Center on Halloween night to play the Brooklyn Nets with an undefeated 2-0 record; and it was apparent from the start, that the Bulls were determined to leave with its undefeated record intact.

Although Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez won the tip over his brother Robin, the Bulls set the tone early, running roughshod over the Nets, taking the First Quarter 38-20. Bulls forward Jimmy Butler wasted no time making his presence felt early. Butler knocked down 13 of his 22 points in the first quarter.

“I think they are playing with more pace,” Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson stated. “I think (Bulls point guard Rajon) Rondo helps with that. He pushed the ball up the court. They’re versatile off the bench so they can give you different looks with (Nikola) Mirotic coming off shooting. I think they set the tone, they set the pace, they really made their imprint on the game and we definitely did not have it tonight.”

“They were the more aggressive team,” Atkinson continued. “I thought they really came out and really got into us. I thought, for some reason, we were back on our heels a little bit and they took advantage of that. Give them credit. I thought they played really well. They played a great game.”

There’s no question the Bulls played really well. The numbers tell the story.

Nets shooting guard Bojan Bogdanovic led all Nets players with 15 points. Other Nets players in double digits were Jeremy Lin with 14 points, four assists, and four steals. Sean Kilpatrick and Brook Lopez each scored 13 points. A telling stat regarding Lopez, he only had two boards and both were offensive rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Bulls had seven players in double digits. Two of the top three Bulls scorers came off the bench. Butler led all players with 22 points, six rebounds, and two assists. Mirotic posted 16 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists off the bench. Isaiah Canaan, another backup player, scored 15 points and six assists. Bulls starting forward Taj Gibson contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds. Dwyane Wade, against a backdrop of cheers, showed the crowd he still has it, tallying 12 points, four assists, and three each in the rebound and steals columns.

It’s early in the season, but the Nets have to get the fire in the belly and stand up to the better teams, or it’s going to be a painful season.

Good and bittersweet in Cali: Warriors tie the Chicago Bulls 1995-96 most wins in a season and Kobe Bryant is set to take his last dribble as an NBA player

In this episode of What's The 411Sports recorded on April 12, 2016, What's The 411Sports hosts Keisha Wilson and Mike McDonald are talking about the:

Outcome of the Augusta National Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia;

Adam Schefter's interview with Greg Hardy;

Johnny Manziel;

Golden State Warriors;

Kobe Bryant;

The New York sports report;

The Golden State Warriors tied the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls winning season record at 72 games;

Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant NBA playing days coming to an end;

NY Jets left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson retired

NY Yankees

NY Mets

Brooklyn Nets

NY Knicks; and

Louisiana Tech women’s head coach Tyler Summit resigns, as he should, and is now on the What’s The 411Sports bench

Events coming up in the What’s The 411Sports pipeline are:

• The NY Mets will play in Cleveland on April 15-17.
• The Boston Marathon is on Monday, April 18.
• The NY Yankees will meet up with former teammate Robinson Cano when the Yankees play the Seattle Mariners on April 19 – 21 at Yankees Stadium.
• The Kentucky Derby, the first leg of a potential triple crown in horse racing is on Saturday, May 7.

Other names mentioned include: John Calipari, Danny Ferry and Bryan Colangelo

The Brooklyn Nets are reportedly interested in pursuing former Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau to fill its vacancy at the head coach position.

Thibodeau, affectionately known as Tibs, coached the Bulls for five seasons winning 65% of his games and reaching the playoffs all five seasons. The Nets are not expected to make a move to fill the coaching vacancy until a new general manager is named. Possible candidates for the GM role are Danny Ferry formerly of the Atlanta Hawks and Bryan Colangelo formerly of the Phoenix Suns and the Toronto Raptors. Both Ferry and Colangelo were general managers at their former organizations.

Tony Brown will continue to act as the interim head coach.

Lopez led all Nets scorers with 26 points; Nets’ first and third quarter performance were key to 115-100 loss

Wednesday was the first game of the Brooklyn Nets’ 2015 NBA regular season. The first game is generally an extension of the preseason, as teams are working out the kinks and trying different schemes all while trying to outwit their opponent. Now, that’s not to say that teams are okay with losing because that is hardly the case because you always want to start off on a good note even when you are hosting the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls finished last season 50-32 compared to the Nets’ win-loss of 38-44. The Bulls also have a team with four All-Stars: Derrick Rose; Joachim Noah; Pau Gasol; and Jimmy Butler. In fact, Rose was a perennial NBA All-Star when he was healthy in 2010 -12; he was also an NBA Rookie of the Year in 2009 and NBA MVP in 2011.

By contrast, the Brooklyn Nets only NBA All-Stars are Brook Lopez (2013) and Joe Johnson (2014).

During the first quarter last night, the Bulls played the Brooklyn Nets like the wind blows in Chicago during winter, ending the first quarter with 30 points compared to the Nets 19.

By the end of the second quarter, things looked promising for the Brooklyn Nets, as both teams finished the half shooting 56 percent. The score at the end of the second quarter was 58-55 in favor of the Bulls. However, the Nets were virtually even in points in the paint 28 vs. the Bulls’ 24; both teams had four second chance points and the Nets led the Bulls 6-4 at the half with fast break points. Nevertheless, it was the first and third quarters where the Nets just fell apart, scoring only 19 and 16 points respectively compared to the Bulls 30 and 28 points.

Brooklyn Nets center and team captain, Brook Lopez who led all Nets scorers with 26 points, seven rebounds and two assists, gave his assessment of the third quarter.

“I think it was shot selection,” Lopez said. “I rushed a few. We could have definitely made a few more swings to turn good looks into great looks.”

Lopez also praised the Nets reserves for keeping the team in the game.

“The second unit was great for us,” Lopez continued. “They came in twice and saved the game for us with their energy and effort. I’m very disappointed in myself in the first and third quarter. I don’t feel like I played well, and it hurt us.”

The Nets made an effort to finish strong tying the Bulls 29 points in the fourth quarter, it was just not enough and the Nets lost to the Bulls 115-100.

In addition to Lopez, the Nets other double-digit points leaders were Andrea Bargnani (17); Thaddeus Young (12); and Joe Johnson (10). In fact, Johnson hit a double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Nets Head Coach Lionel Hollins weighs in on loss

“You have to make shots, you have to make lay-ups, you have to make mid-range shots, you have to make shots in the paint; 39 for 93, we didn’t make them anyway” said an exasperated Coach Hollins.

Brooklyn Nets will open 2015-16 NBA regular season at home at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on October 28, 2015

The Brooklyn Nets will open its 2015-16 season at the Barclays Center on Wednesday, October 28, when they entertain the Chicago Bulls, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m. The home opener will be the Bulls' lone appearance in Brooklyn this season.

The Nets will welcome the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors to Brooklyn on Sunday, December 6 at 6:00 p.m., which will tip off a six-game homestand, the longest of the campaign. The home stand also includes an afternoon contest on Saturday, December 12 versus the Los Angeles Clippers at 5:00 p.m.

In addition to the game against the Clippers, the Nets will host four other afternoon contests over the course of the upcoming season. The Nets will entertain the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, December 20 at 1:00 p.m., the Washington Wizards on Saturday, December 26 at 4:00 p.m., the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, January 24 at 3:30 p.m. and the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, April 3 at 1:00 p.m.

Brooklyn will host the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, January 20 and Thursday, March 24, while the San Antonio Spurs visit the borough on Monday, January 11, with all three contests starting at 7:30 p.m.