Brooklyn Nets Blog – Page 127 – NBA Blog

Nets team notes

Rookie forward Ryan Anderson made his first career start vs. Oklahoma City on 1/12. He tallied six points and a career-high tying nine rebounds in 27 minutes. Anderson, 20, was the third youngest Nets player to start in franchise history. Below are the five youngest players to start for the Nets in franchise history including Anderson’s expected start tonight.

Against Oklahoma City on 1/12, the Nets started two rookies, Anderson and Lopez, for the first time since March 5 of 2002 when Jason Collins and Richard Jefferson started at the LA Lakers in a 92-101 loss.

The Nets are currently riding their longest home winning streak of the season at four games… The last time New Jersey won four consecutive home games was last season with victories vs. Dallas on 2/10/08, vs. Minnesota on 2/12/08, vs. Indiana on 2/23/08 and vs. Milwaukee on 2/28/08.

The Nets are one of 12 NBA teams to have won 10-or-more games on the road this season. With the 114-103 victory at Charlotte on 12/27, the Nets moved to six games above .500 on the road for the first time in franchise history. The Nets reached five games over .500 on the road for the first time in franchise history with the 108-107 victory at Indiana on 12/23. Before this season, the Nets have reached four games over .500 on the road five times and during the current campaign New Jersey has been four games above .500 on the road three times.

The Nets currently have the fourth highest road scoring average in the NBA at 102.1.

Brook Lopez is currently averaging 2.00 blocks per game (fourth in NBA, first among rookies), which puts him on pace to swat 164 shots this season. He currently has 76 blocks and if he continues swatting shots at this rate, he will shatter the current Nets rookie record of 113 blocks set by Kenyon Martin in the 2000-01 season. Nets sophomore forward Sean Williams fell just short of the record last year in his rookie season with 106 blocks (1.45 per game). If Brook does reach 160, it would also give him the 6th all-time highest block total for a Nets player, tied with Shawn Bradley from the 1996-97 season. George Johnson owns the Nets record for most blocks in a season with 274 during the 1977-78 campaign.

Brook Lopez is ranked fourth in the NBA in blocks per game at 2.00 and first among rookies… He is also ranked in the top ten in four other rookie categories, 2nd in rebounding at 8.2, 9th in scoring at 10.7, 8th in field goal percentage at .476 (171-359), 9th in free throw percentage at .805 (66-82) and 7th in minutes at 29.1.

Lopez leads Nets to 103-99 OT win over Thunder

The AP reports: Rookie Brook Lopez scored a career-high 31 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead the Nets to a 103-99 overtime win on Monday. The Nets believed they had already won this one in regulation. Vince Carter caught a pass from Devin Harris and had the winning basket lined up with 9 seconds left, a shot that caught nothing but net from 3-point range. To the shock of everyone on the floor, the score was wiped out because Nets coach Lawrence Frank had run onto the court to call a time out… Carter finished with 21 points while Harris, back after missing three of the previous four games with a hamstring injury, had 17 points. Keyon Dooling had 14 points, most coming early in the fourth quarter as the Nets earned a fourth straight home win after starting the season 5-12 in New Jersey. Kevin Durant had 26 points for the Thunder, who fell to 6-33, and 2-17 on the road.

Yi Jianlian out 4-6 weeks

The New York Post (Fred Kerber) reports: The Nets finally saw the Yi Jianlian they wanted, the 7-foot bundle of emerging talent they felt was worth dealing Richard Jefferson to obtain. The past few weeks, Yi was good. The past few games, Yi was very good. But now the development will be shelved for up to six weeks after Yi broke his right pinkie in Friday’s 104-102 defeat at Milwaukee. “Lousy timing,” team president Rod Thorn said. “He’d been playing well the last 2½, 3 weeks. Even in games he didn’t score a lot in, he’s been playing well. So it’s a tough time for him to get hurt.” Yi, who said he heard a “little pop” as he swiped at the ball in the third quarter, had 16 points in 25 minutes against Milwaukee, well on his way to a third straight 20-point game. In his last three games, he shot .538 (21-of-39), averaged 19.3 points – plus 7.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

Ridnour’s floater lifts Milwaukee over Nets

The AP reports: Luke Ridnour’s 5-foot floater with 0.5 seconds left lifted the Bucks to a 104-102 victory over the Nets on Friday night in the first meeting since Jefferson was dealt on draft day to Milwaukee for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. Jefferson left Simmons alone to try to defend Vince Carter in the closing seconds and Simmons, who finished with 15 points by going 5-of-9 from 3-point range, hit his final one with 9 seconds left to tie it at 102… But Carter, who finished with 23 points, 14 assists and one rebound short of his fifth triple-double, hit a fadeaway jumper and set up a layup by Brook Lopez to make it 100-97… Jarvis Hayes scored 16 points for the Nets, while Milwaukee got 23 points from Charlie Villanueva, 11 from Ramon Sessions and 10 each from Ridnour, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Charlie Bell.

Nets easily top Memphis 100-89 for 3rd straight home win

The AP reports: It’s rarely this easy for the New Jersey Nets, especially in their own building. Vince Carter had 25 points and a season-high 12 assists, and the Nets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 100-89 on Wednesday night for their third straight home victory. Playing without leading scorer Devin Harris (sore right hamstring), the Nets enjoyed one of the most relaxing nights a team could have… Yi Jianlian added 20 points, and rookie Brook Lopez had 17 for the Nets, who are just 8-12 at the Meadowlands even after their longest home winning streak of the season. They are 10-6 on the road and returned to .500 overall at 18-18. Rookie O.J. Mayo scored 26 points, and Rudy Gay had 23 for the Grizzlies, who lost for the sixth time in seven games and fell to 0-9 this season when playing on the second night of back-to-back games.

New nickname for Nenad Krstic

The Oklahoman (Darnell Mayberry) reports: Nenad Krstic is officially a member of the Thunder after having his work visa approved Monday. And with a new team comes a new nickname. Krstic, the 7-foot center who was signed Dec. 30, is no longer affectionately referred to as “Curly” as he was during his four seasons with the New Jersey Nets. Thunder players have taken to the nickname “Krispy.” While the nickname is more of a play off Krstic’s last name, it could carry a double meaning for how crisp Krstic has been in his first week of practice. “He’s looking good,” Desmond Mason said of Krstic, who could make his Thunder debut tonight against the New York Knicks.

Carter has 29, Yi 22 to lead Nets over Kings 98-90

The AP reports: With leading scorer Devin Harris sidelined in the second half, the New Jersey Nets turned to Vince Carter and couple of other things that have not been as reliable—Yi Jianlian and defense. Carter scored 29 points, Yi added 22 points and a season-high 13 rebounds and the Nets limited Sacramento to 36 second-half points in handing the Kings their 11th straight road loss, 98-90 on Monday night… Getting 17 second-half points from Carter was no surprise. Getting 15 points and 10 rebounds from Yi was stunning… Kevin Martin, who scored 45 on Saturday night, had 36 points for the woeful Kings (8-27). The reserve scored 11 in the second half, when he was 3-of-12 from the field.

Wade ignites Heat’s 101-96 OT win over Nets

The AP reports: Soaring for blocks and acrobatic dunks, Dwyane Wade stuffed the Nets. Wade scored 29 points, had three key blocks in the closing minutes and the Miami Heat overcame a 16-point deficit to beat New Jersey 101-96 in overtime Saturday night. Wade did it all in the Heat’s biggest comeback victory of the season. The superstar went up high for two blocks on dunk attempts by 7-footer Brook Lopez, including one in overtime and another late in the fourth quarter, and swatted Vince Carter’s jumper into the stands in the final minute of regulation… Trailing by 16 points in the first quarter, the Heat rode a season-high 19 points from Diawara and 17 points from Michael Beasley… Keyon Dooling had 23 points, and Carter had 20 for the Nets, who won in overtime a night earlier against the Atlanta Hawks.

Devin Harris did not play.

NBA taking no action in Carter-ref incident

The AP reports: The NBA did not take any action against Vince Carter of the New Jersey Nets nor a veteran official who used the word ‘boy’ during a confrontation with the eight-time All-Star during a game Wednesday in Detroit. Referee Derrick Stafford called two quick technicals on Carter after he argued an out-of-bounds call in the second quarter of the Pistons’ 83-75 victory. A furious Carter went after the official following his ejection and seemed to bump Stafford. Carter had to be held back by teammates. “We have spoken to both Vince and Derrick about their exchange during Wednesday’s game, and decided not to take any action with respect to the language that was used or any inadvertent contact that may have occurred,” the league said today in a statement provided in an e-mail from spokesman Tim Frank.

Nets better on road than home

The New York Times (Jonathan Abrams) reports: In defiance of N.B.A. history and everyday logic, the Nets wear their record inside-out. On the road, they are one of the league’s top teams with a 10-5 record, with as many losses as the Cleveland Cavaliers. At home in the Izod Center, they are 5-12, better than only the Washington Wizards in the Eastern Conference. The end result is that the puzzling Nets are teetering around the break-even mark and in the middle of the pack in the conference. “Right now, we’re a better road team, for whatever reason,” Keyon Dooling said. “It’s kind of unorthodox. But we’ve got to keep chopping wood and trying to get better.” Coach Lawrence Frank has some theories, but solving the problem has been more difficult… According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 1955-56 Knicks are the only N.B.A. team to finish above .500 on the road (16-13) and below that mark at home (13-15). They went 6-9 in games played at neutral sites. The Boston Celtics, during the 2003-4 season, are the only team this decade to finish below .500 at home (19-22) and qualify for the playoffs, according to Elias.