November 14, 2012, Cleveland Cavaliers-Brooklyn Nets NBA regular season game story for Metro Newspaper in NYC
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Reggie Evans, left, had eight rebounds in just 21 minutes.
The Nets had a three-pronged plan last summer.
They wanted to lock up Deron Williams to a max contract, add a
high-caliber talent to play alongside Williams and — barring a trade for
Dwight Howard — lock up Brook Lopez.
Last night, those elements all came together.
The Nets routed the Cavaliers, 114-101, Tuesday night at the Barclays
Center in a game that was not as close as the final scored indicated.
The Nets improved to 4-2, while Cleveland fell to 2-6.
“[There were] a lot of positives tonight,” head coach Avery Johnson said.
Deron Williams (26) and Joe Johnson (25) combined for 51 points. Brook
Lopez had 23 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Kris Humphries
chipped in with 12 points and five rebounds.
The Nets ended the competitive portion of the evening in the second
quarter. The Nets outscored Cleveland, 35-12, in the second, led by the
second unit.
Trailing 30-29 after the first quarter, Avery Johnson elected to have
the reserves start the second. They responded with a 19-4 run spanning
nearly seven minutes. At the half, the Nets had a 64-42 lead — the third
straight home game in which the Nets had a 20-point lead in the game.
The key to the run was Andray Blatche. Blatche had eight points, five
rebounds and two blocked shots in the quarter. He finished with 11
points, five rebounds and three blocks.
“You saw the energy Reggie [Evans] and Blatche [brought] to our interior
defense,” Avery Johnson said. “When those guys were out, there weren’t
many points in the paint and they played well against the pick and roll.
We are working with Humphries and Lopez to watch them and see how they
work defensively on the floor. If they start performing like that, we
can have four guys playing well defensively.”
Before the game, Avery Johnson said that the Nets were a work in
progress. Despite the relatively easy win, there were teaching points he
will emphasize to his team before the Celtics come calling Thursday
night.
Avery Johnson was emphatic that the Nets had to keep Kyrie Irving, Dion
Waiters, Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao in check. Irving set a
career high with 34 points, with 26 coming in the second half, while
Varejao set a career high in points with 35, and grabbed 18 rebounds.
Waiters finished with eight points and Thompson had 14. He was also
disappointed the Nets’ 22-point halftime advantage was shaved down to 10
points, 85-75, at the start of the fourth quarter.
“We just wanted to stick together. Basketball is a game of runs and
they’re obviously going to make theirs. They have some very talented
players, especially in Irving, so you know he’s going to get some
buckets,” Lopez said.
Enter Joe Johnson, who scored 16 points in the final quarter on 5-of-8 shooting, including making 3-of-6 3-point attempts.
“We just wanted to focus in a little more and executive offensively,”
Joe Johnson said in an on-court interview. “I just got some good looks
and we got into transition. I shot a couple threes in transition, which
got me in to a little rhythm. Guys were finding me and I was just trying
to take my time with my shot.”
Follow Nets beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.
Follow Nets beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.
http://www.metro.us/newyork/sports/article/1156192--nets-take-third-straight-win-behind-big-3
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 3:43 PM
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