Brooklyn Nets Blog – Page 123 – NBA Blog

Sean Williams arrested after incident mall near Denver

The Newark Star-Ledger (Dave D’Alessandro) reports: Nets forward Sean Williams was arrested and charged with felony criminal mischief yesterday after an altercation with a clerk at a cell phone store in a shopping mall 20 miles south of Denver. The 22-year-old Williams was also charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, according to Detective Sergeant Ron Pinson of the Lone Tree, Colo., Police Dept. The incident occurred at 2 p.m. yesterday at the AT&T Mobility store inside the Park Meadows Mall. According to police, Williams had a verbal altercation with the clerk, and picked up a computer monitor and threw it. The monitor and other equipment were broken, causing damages estimated to be about $1,200 to $1,300.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Seriously, how hard is it to just stop getting in legal trouble for a while? Williams has pro-level athletic ability, but amateur-level skill development. Combine that with constant legal issues and he’s playing his way out of the league.

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Novak’s 3 gives Clippers 107-105 win over Nets

The AP reports: Steve Novak’s seventh 3-pointer beat the buzzer and helped the Clippers snap a seven-game losing streak with a 107-105 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Sunday night… Vince Carter had a season-high 41 points along with seven rebounds and six assists for the Nets, whose postseason hopes may have been severely damaged when point guard and leading scorer Devin Harris left with 8:53 remaining in the third quarter because of a sprained left shoulder… Novak finished with 21 points, and Baron Davis and Al Thornton each scored 20 for Los Angeles.

Daniel Goldstein fighting Brooklyn Nets

The New Jersey Nets want to move to Brooklyn and become the Brooklyn Nets — unless they change the “Nets” name, which is possible but the guess is they keep it — but they have not yet been able to start the project due to various legal issues. The New York Daily News (Mike Lupica) reports:

Ratner owns another building on Pacific, empty now except for one apartment, the one owned by Daniel Goldstein, who still lives there with his wife and their child and fights on 5½ years after Ratner officially announced his plans for Ratner World. When Goldstein moved to Brooklyn in the 1990s, he worked as a graphic designer. Now his full-time job is with Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn and standing in there against Ratner and the Empire State Development Corp. He has been at this a long time, and plans to stay at it, even as Brett Yormark, the Nets CEO, promises that the Nets will be in Brooklyn for the 2011-12 season. “We’re like a resistance movement,” Goldstein was saying Saturday. Then he laughed and said, “Or maybe the U.S. soldiers who kept fighting in Japan after the war was over.”

Speaking now as a New Yorker who looks forward to being able to take the subway to both Knicks and Nets games, I think Daniel Goldstein is a jackass. More from the Daily News:

“There is no way the lawsuits can be resolved before the summer,” Goldstein said. “And if they haven’t broken ground before this year is over, there is a chance the whole thing falls apart.” He laughed then and said, “But that is all speculative. They are still adamant about building the arena and they are tough opponents and they have an approved project of this size in New York City. And they know that if they show signs of giving up, they could lose the rights to the land.”

And more:

Goldstein says that the offer was the same other people got from Ratner: 850 dollars per square foot. He says that he and his wife have their savings. He talks about the paycheck he receives from Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. He talks about financial hardship and says that he doesn’t know how long he can stay at this.

Again, speaking as a biased New Yorker for a moment rather than an objective journalist, I hope Daniel Goldstein loses his job and can’t afford to keep this up much longer. I want to go see the Brooklyn Nets.

Nets still fighting for playoffs

The New York Post (Fred Kerber) reports: Even with the recent flubs, the Nets (28-37, a season-worst nine games under .500) are amid the six teams fighting for the last spot. They came out of Friday one-half game away from Milwaukee and Chicago, who were in a virtual tie for eighth, while being tied with the Knicks and Charlotte. “We can outscore anybody for three quarters. But when it comes down to fourth-quarter play, it’s about can we stop ’em?” Devin Harris said. “In games we won, we’ve done that. In the games we lost, we haven’t… We’re still right there. It’s not like [other] teams are moving up – they’re losing just as much as us.” That may be the biggest consolation for the Nets – pretty much everybody else stinks, too.

Roy has 31 and Blazers beat Nets 109-100

The AP reports: Brandon Roy figured his shots had to start falling eventually—and they did. He wound up with 31 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the New Jersey Nets 109-100 on Friday night… Nicolas Batum hit a 3-pointer to make it 101-96 with 29 seconds left and seal it. The rookie from France had a career-high 20 points. LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points and 10 rebounds for Portland. Devin Harris scored 27 points for the New Jersey, which has lost five of seven. The Nets were coming off a 116-112 loss at Golden State which denied them a chance to move into playoff position.

Jackson leads Warriors to 116-112 win over Nets

The AP reports: Monta Ellis returned to the lineup after missing seven games to attend to a family emergency. It was though he never left. “Monta is a great player and I am not surprised at anything,” Warriors forward Stephen Jackson said after scoring 29 points in Golden State’s 116-112 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday… Ellis and center Andris Biedrins bolstered the Warriors with their return to the lineup, and Jamal Crawford scored 15 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Warriors, who ended a three-game slide, delivered a blow to the Nets’ playoff chances. Biedrins, who missed the past five games, contributed 10 points and 13 rebounds. Corey Maggette added 18 points. Devin Harris had 31 points and 12 assists for the Nets, who have lost five of six on the road and missed a chance to move into eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Eduardo Najera done for season

The New York Daily News (Julian Garcia) reports: The Nets found out Monday that they’ll have to go the rest of the season without Eduardo Najera. The veteran forward, who signed with the Nets in the offseason, has a sports hernia and will have surgery sometime over the next week or so. Frank said Najera would not be ready for at least six to 10 weeks, meaning the Nets would have to advance deep into the postseason for him to have a chance to play again. In 27 games, Najera averaged 2.9 points and 2.5 rebounds. He hadn’t played since Jan.31.

Harris scores 35, Nets beat Knicks 106-101

The AP reports: No way the New Jersey Nets could lose another close one. Not the way the New York Knicks bungled away the closing minutes. Devin Harris had 35 points and 10 assists, and the Nets ended a frustrating stretch of narrow defeats by edging the Knicks 106-101 on Sunday. Vince Carter added 25 points for the Nets, who had lost three of four, failing to pull out tight games against New Orleans, Boston and Orlando. This time they made the plays down the stretch, while the Knicks melted down amid an ugly combination of missed shots and turnovers in the final 2 1/2 minutes… David Lee had 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks, who opened a five-game trip with their fifth loss in six games. Nate Robinson scored 17 points and fellow reserve Danilo Gallinari added 15.

Howard scores 26 as Magic top Nets 105-102

The AP reports: The Orlando Magic are getting back in a groove, and just in time. Dwight Howard had 26 points and 15 rebounds, and the Magic rallied to beat the New Jersey Nets 105-102 on Friday night. Up next: Sunday at Boston, which is second in the Eastern Conference and three games ahead of Orlando… Rashard Lewis added 21 points, and Hedo Turkoglu scored 13 for the Magic, who won their third straight game and fourth in their last five. Devin Harris had 25 points and nine assists, and Vince Carter had 19 points for the Nets, who went 1-for-8 over the last 6:16.

Pierce shines, Celtics beat Nets 115-111

The AP reports: Paul Pierce scored 31 points and hit a game-winning 17-footer with 20.9 seconds to play—the last of three perfect plays down the stretch—to lead the Celtics to a 115-111 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night… Devin Harris, who had 25 points and 11 assists for New Jersey, missed a floater with 45.6 seconds to go and that set the stage for Pierce’s game winner… Rajon Rondo added 20 points as the Celtics shot 61.2 percent from the field in beating the Nets for the third time this season. Perkins had 17 points and 13 rebounds.