Brooklyn Nets Blog – Page 66 – NBA Blog

Carlos Boozer steps up, Bulls beat Nets to take 2-1 lead

Every play near the basket looked like a traffic accident. There were long scoreless stretches. Shooting from outside was a dicey proposition.

It was ugly for everyone but the Chicago Bulls. This was their type of game.

Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Luol Deng added 21 points and 10 boards, and the Bulls held off the Brooklyn Nets 79-76 in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series Thursday night.

”We did what we had to do to win the game,” Boozer said. ”In the playoffs you have to win different ways. Nothing is perfect.”

Chicago had no field goals and two foul shots over the final 5:46 of its second straight win in the series. It will try for a 3-1 lead when the banged-up teams return to the court Saturday afternoon in a quick turnaround.

Brooklyn shot 35 percent for the second straight game. Brook Lopez had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots, and Deron Williams finished with 18 points on 5-for-14 shooting…

Joe Johnson got a cortisone shot for his ailing left foot and finished 15 points for Brooklyn, while Noah’s foul shot was his only point of the game while dealing with his own painful right foot injury. Noah also had eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks…

Brooklyn went 5 for 21 from 3-point range and is 15 for 56 from beyond the arc for the series.

— Reported by Jay Cohen of the Associated Press

Joe Johnson sits out Nets practice

Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Joe Johnson did not practice Wednesday because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot and will be listed as a game-time decision for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night.

Johnson missed 10 games during the regular season because of injury — four of them the result of a sore left heel.

— Reported by ESPN New York

Nate Robinson discusses unfriendly relationship with C.J. Watson

Chicago Bulls guard Nate Robinson doesn’t hide his dislike for the Brooklyn Nets’ C.J. Watson. In fact, Robinson views it as a positive.

“We’re just competitors,” Robinson said Monday after helping the Bulls even their Eastern Conference quarterfinals at a game apiece. “I don’t like him, he don’t like me. That’s how it’s going to be. There’s animosity between the two of us, and for us, that’s good.”

The cause of the animosity isn’t certain. Robinson essentially filled Watson’s role on the Bulls, who waived Watson last offseason and then signed Robinson to a non-guaranteed contract.

— Reported by ESPN Chicago

Nets coach says Andray Blatche needs to improve conditioning

After couple years of having his fitness criticized while playing with the Wizards – and logging an infamous DNP-Conditioning last season – Andray Blatche was lauded for getting himself into shape during the summer before signing his one-year deal with the Nets.

But the backup center was called out Monday by coach PJ Carlesimo for his conditioning, following a game when Blatche played 37 minutes and looked winded.

“Dray was the only one I felt bad about (playing a lot of minutes). And frankly, he needs conditioning,” Carlesimo said “So I thought it was okay. He needs some conditioning and he obviously wants to play against (the Wizards) because he played there. … We thought Dray was going good and the conditioning is good for him.”

— Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News

DeMar DeRozan scores 36 in Raptors win over Nets

Deron Williams crumpled up his stat sheet and threw it away in disgust. A loss to the lottery-bound Toronto Raptors meant his Brooklyn Nets had lost their chance at earning the third seed in the Eastern Conference.

DeMar DeRozan scored 36 points, Rudy Gay had 26 points and 10 rebounds and the Raptors won their third straight game, never trailing in a 93-87 victory over the Nets on Sunday.

Brooklyn is still going to the playoffs, but could have closed to within one game of Indiana after the Pacers lost 90-80 to the New York Knicks…

Brooklyn can still tie Indiana, but the Pacers would win the tiebreaker because they’re guaranteed to win the Central Division. Brooklyn is assured of second place in the Atlantic…

Amir Johnson had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who hadn’t won three straight since a five-game winning streak from Feb. 8 to 19…

Williams scored 30 points, Brook Lopez had 16 and Andray Blatche 15 for the Nets, whose four-game winning streak was snapped…

Former Raptor Reggie Evans had 16 rebounds for the Nets but didn’t take a single shot. … Keith Bogans started for Brooklyn in place of F Gerald Wallace, who missed his second straight game with a sore left heel.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Nets sign Kris Joseph for rest of season

Kris Joseph has made a positive impression on the Brooklyn Nets, and the team has signed the forward for the remainder of the 2012-13 season, Nets General Manager Billy King announced today.

Joseph (6-7/215), who signed a 10-day contract with Brooklyn on April 2, has appeared in three games for the Nets, averaging 3.3 minutes per game. Joseph was Brooklyn’s second NBA D-League Call-Up of the season, joining the Nets from the Springfield Armor.

Acquired from Maine on February 11, 2013, Joseph started 15 games for the Armor, averaging 19.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals in 34.1 minutes per game. In 27 combined games for Springfield and Maine this season, Joseph averaged 18.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 steals in 34.0 minutes per game.

The Syracuse University product was selected in the second round (51st overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. In six games for the Celtics this season, Joseph averaged 1.2 points and 0.8 rebounds in 3.8 minutes per game.

The Nets have a 46-32 record, good for 4th in the Eastern conference

The NBA regular season ends Wednesday, April 17.

Gerald Wallace discusses his shooting problems

At several points during the Nets’ 105-96 win over the Bobcats on Saturday, the ball found its way into the hands of an open Gerald Wallace.

But, outside of getting fouled on an attempted layup after Deron Williams found him wide open under the basket, Wallace didn’t attempt a single shot.

Wallace confirmed afterwards what seemed to be the case to anyone who had watched the game: that six weeks of struggles since the All-Star break in mid-February have sapped the veteran’s confidence in his shooting stroke.

“My confidence is totally gone,” Wallace told The Post Saturday. “I’m just at the point now … I’m in a situation where I feel like if I miss, I’m going to get pulled out of the game, you know what I’m saying? So my whole concept is just that you can’t come out of the game if you’re not missing shots.

“I think I lost the confidence of the coaching staff and my teammates. So my main thing is those guys can score, so instead of thinking about it so much, just trying to focus on defense, try to move the ball and get those guys shots.”

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

Nets have some Joe Johnson health concerns

Brooklyn Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo remains concerned about Joe Johnson’s health.

“If he can get healthy and do it in a timely manner, that’s fine,” Carlesimo said after Johnson had 15 points in 32 minutes in the Nets’ 105-96 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night at Barclays Center. “We need Joe Johnson.”

Since returning from heel and quad injuries that caused him to miss five games, Johnson is 9-for-27 from the field.

“I’m all right,” Johnson said. “Maybe a little limited to some of the things I can do out there on the court, but the coaches and guys are telling me just my presence out there makes a difference, so I’m just giving it all I’ve got.”

— Reported by Mike Mazzeo of ESPN New York

With big game from Carlos Boozer, Bulls rally to beat Nets 92-90

Down five key players. Down 16 points. A lot for any team to overcome.

These Chicago Bulls are used to it.

”We fight to the end,” forward Carlos Boozer said. ”We’ve got some resilient guys in here.”

Boozer had 29 points and 18 rebounds, Nate Robinson made the go-ahead basket with 22 seconds left, and the Bulls rallied to beat the Brooklyn Nets 92-90 on Thursday night in a potential preview of a first-round playoff series.

Jimmy Butler had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Luol Deng scored 18 points, and Robinson finished with 12 as the Bulls shook off the absences of the injured players to keep Indiana from clinching the Central Division title they’ve won the last two years.

Chicago pulled into a tie for fifth place with Atlanta and climbed within 1 1/2 games of the Nets for the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the first round.

And the Bulls did it without Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Richard Hamilton and Marco Belinelli, all starters or key members of their rotation. Plus, they lost starting point guard Kirk Hinrich to fouls with 3:38 remaining…

Deron Williams had 30 points and 10 assists for the Nets, who had a disappointing return home from an eight-game road trip. Brook Lopez finished with 28 points, but he had a turnover and two misses in the final minute, including a corner jumper that went in and out that would have forced overtime.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Nets sign Kris Joseph to 10-day contract

The Brooklyn Nets have signed forward Kris Joseph to a 10-day contract, it was announced today by General Manager Billy King.

Joseph (6-7/215) becomes Brooklyn’s second NBA D-League Call-Up of the season, joining the Nets from the Springfield Armor. In 27 combined games for Springfield and Maine this season, Joseph averaged 18.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 steals in 34.0 minutes per game. Acquired from Maine on February 11, 2013, Joseph has started 15 games for the Armor, averaging 19.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals in 34.1 minutes per game.

The Syracuse University product was selected in the second round (51st overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. In six games for the Celtics this season, he averaged 1.2 points and 0.8 rebounds in 3.8 minutes per game.