The AP reports: Vince Carter knew just what to tell Ryan Anderson about recovering from a poor shooting performance. Carter had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Anderson scored a career-high 21 points, and the New Jersey Nets beat the Toronto Raptors 94-87 on Monday night to snap a three-game losing streak… Devin Harris scored 16 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, making 10 of 11 from the free throw line… Chris Bosh and Jason Kapono each scored 17 for Toronto. Jose Calderon added 15 points and Jermaine O’Neal had 12 for the Raptors, who have lost seven of nine. Jamario Moon and Andrea Bargnani each had 10 points for Toronto. New Jersey had a season-high 54 rebounds, including 18 on the offensive end, and outscored Toronto 26-2 on second-chance points. Toronto has been outrebounded in 13 consecutive games.
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Nets-Raptors observations
InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner shares his unedited thoughts on the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors from Friday night. The Raptors visited the Nets and won in convincing fashion, 101-79.
Quick summary: The Raptors led 24-18 after the first quarter. Both teams scored just 16 each in a quiet second quarter. The Raptors tore away in the third quarter (31-19), and kept things going in the fourth for a convincing win. New Jersey shot just 31.3%. They had 20 offensive rebounds, compared to just 5 for the Raptors, but barely converted anything.
It’s pointless to say anything about Vince Carter today. He had a miserable game, shooting 0-of-13 and hitting 3-of-4 free throws for just three points, four rebounds and three assists (but three turnovers). The Raptors played very good defense, but Vince being off like this obviously isn’t normal.
Toronto also defended Devin Harris very well, holding him to 4-of-10 shooting for 14 points, five rebounds and five assists (but four turnovers). Are teams starting to figure Harris out? Hopefully not, for the Nets sake.
What I didn’t like about the Nets today is that as Harris struggled, very few other Nets seemed to try to help him out. As Harris had the ball in three-point range up top, Brook Lopez was the only Net to consistently set a real screen for him in an effort to free Devin up. Other Nets stood around watching. Now, usually Harris uses his super-quickness to create out of nowhere, but when it isn’t happening, guys should move and help a bit.
I’m extremely impressed by Brook Lopez. He’s the real deal and is very strong, agile and basketball-smart on both ends of the floor. The young center is a stud and will have an impressive NBA career.
I still don’t know what to make of Yi Jianlian, other than that he’s agile and has a sweet-looking jumper.
The arena’s sound system sounded especially muffled today.
As for the Raptors, Jermaine O’Neal is moving slowly and not the player he was before, but he has a high basketball IQ and uses his size more effectively than shows on the stat-sheet. Only a little, though.
Chris Bosh didn’t do anything special today, but he didn’t really have to.
Jason Kapono took 15 shots, more than any other Raptor, hitting just six, four of which were three-pointers, finishing with 16 points and five rebounds.
Joey Graham is having a great stretch and has played good basketball for the last few weeks. He looks confident. Graham came off the bench to play almost 30 minutes, shooting 5-of-8 for 16 points.
Andrea Bargnani was a starter this season, but now comes off the bench, and showed very little today, shooting just 2-of-10. That’s obviously worse than usual, but I’m still not sure how good he’s going to get. He’s shown in the past that he has the ability to become a starter-quality player on a winning team, but he isn’t that, yet.
Keep an eye on the Raptors as they learn to play under new head coach Jay triano.
Dec 13: Bulls 113, Nets 104
The AP reports: Ben Gordon and the Bulls knew Vince Carter would come out firing after the worst shooting performance of his career, but they overcame that with their depth. Gordon scored 29 points and Derrick Rose had nine of his 22 in the fourth quarter to lead Chicago to a 113-104 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Saturday night… Chicago got help from its young front line, who had been inconsistent all season. Tyrus Thomas scored 16 points and Joakim Noah added seven points and eight rebounds for the Bulls, who improved to 8-3 at home… Devin Harris finished with 22 points and seven assists. Carter and Harris were a combined 24-of-25 from the free throw line.
Dec 12: Raptors 101, Nets 79
The AP reports: The worst shooting performance of Vince Carter’s career allowed interim coach Jay Triano to see more positive signs from the Toronto Raptors. Chris Bosh scored 18 points and Toronto capitalized on Carter’s 0-for-13 night against his former team to beat the New Jersey Nets 101-79 on Friday, the Raptors’ second straight win under Triano… Jason Kapono, with four 3-pointers, and Joey Graham each had 16 points for the Raptors, who were outrebounded 50-37. Jose Calderon scored 13 as the Raptors improved to 2-3 under Triano, who replaced Sam Mitchell on Dec. 3. Yi Jianlian and Devin Harris led the Nets with 14 apiece, while Bobby Simmons had 12.
Dec 11: Knicks 121, Nets 109
The AP reports: Al Harrington scored a season-high 39 points, fellow New Jersey high school star Tim Thomas also had his best game of the season, and New York rallied to beat the Nets 121-109 on Wednesday night… Harrington was a point shy of his career high, while Thomas scored a season-high 26… But they got by with huge efforts from their newcomers and a steady one from Chris Duhon, who finished with 10 points and 10 assists. Wilson Chandler added 24 points for the Knicks, who rebounded from a 105-100 loss in Chicago on Tuesday night and won for just the second time in six games. Devin Harris scored 32 points for the Nets, but he couldn’t sustain his blistering start and New Jersey was denied a third straight victory. Vince Carter had 18.
Knicks-Nets rivalry is gone
The New Jersey Nets were a very good team for a few years.
The New York Knicks haven’t been a very good team in quite a while.
Although the two teams are in different states, the drive separating the two teams is just 15 minutes. Maybe 30 or even 40 minutes if it’s rush-hour.
But the two squads have gone through such big roster changes lately, the players on the two sides have barely battled on the court against each other while wearing their current uniforms. The Bergen Record (Al Iannazzone) reports (via blog):
It’s hard to predict that the team teams will develop anything resembling a real rivalry anytime soon, because there’s no telling who will be on either team’s roster in the next season or so.
It is nice that, win or lose, both teams are much better to watch now than they were just a season ago.
Nets need to defend perimeter
The New York Post (Dan Tomasino) reports: “[Our record of] 9-8, we’ll take it right now,” Devin Harris said. “We’re making strides. Two steps forward, one step back. We made a big stride on the road. We’ve just got to play better at home.” There are many factors involved for the Nets to become more consistent. Improved defense against 3-pointers is a must. They’re second worst in the NBA, allowing opponents to make 42 percent from beyond the arc. Offensively, finding a third scorer to complement Harris and Carter is a challenge.
Dec 2: Wizards 108, Nets 88
The AP reports: Caron Butler had 22 points and 10 assists, and DeShawn Stevenson added 21 to lead the Washington Wizards to an easy 108-88 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night… The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Nets (9-8), who won all three contests on the road. The Nets were led by Devin Harris, who had 18 points, but only three after halftime, and Vince Carter, who had 16 points. Keyon Dooling added 14 off the bench for the Nets.
Players of Week: Devin Harris, Brandon Roy
The New Jersey Nets’ Devin Harris and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Brandon Roy today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 30.
Harris averaged a league-best 30.0 points on .535 shooting and added 6.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds as New Jersey went 3-1 on its West Coast trip. On Nov. 30, Harris led the Nets to their first win at Phoenix since 1993 by scoring a career-high 47 points to go along with eight assists and seven rebounds. In that game, Harris set a franchise record for consecutive free-throws made (17-17). On Nov. 26, the 6-3 guard hit the game-winning shot in overtime as the Nets beat Sacramento 116-114.
Roy led the Trail Blazers to a 4-0 record, averaging 20.0 points, 6.0 assists and 5.3 rebounds. On Nov. 28, Roy recorded his first double-double of the season with 25 points and 10 assists in a 101-86 win over New Orleans. Roy has scored 10 or more points 17 times this season, including 12 games with 20 or more points, and leads the team in scoring (20.9 ppg), assists (5.3 ppg) and minutes (36.3).
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Cleveland’s LeBron James, Dallas’ Jason Terry, Houston’s Yao Ming, Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, New Orleans’ Chris Paul, Orlando’s Dwight Howard and Toronto’s Chris Bosh.
Nov 30: Nets 117, Suns 109
The AP reports: Devin Harris was on the attack and the Phoenix Suns had no defense for him. Harris scored a career-high 47 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter, and the New Jersey Nets ended their 14-game losing streak at Phoenix by rallying to beat the Suns 117-109 Sunday night… Harris, whose previous high was 38, hit 14 of 25 field goals and 17 of 17 free throws in a dazzling performance… Vince Carter added 28 points for New Jersey, Yi Jianlian had 14 and Brook Lopez 12. Steve Nash, who missed Friday’s game because of a thigh contusion, led the Suns with 26 points and nine assists. Amare Stoudemire had 25 points and 12 rebounds before being ejected with his second technical foul—for arguing with an official—with 3:24 remaining and Phoenix leading 100-98. Matt Barnes had 18 points.
InsideHoops.com note: Harris also had 7 rebounds and 8 assists.