Brooklyn Nets Blog – Page 67 – NBA Blog

Reggie Evans gets 22 points, 26 rebounds in Nets win over Trail Blazers

Reggie Evans’ Brooklyn teammates egged him on, making sure he knew just how many points and rebounds he had against the Trail Blazers.

In the end, Evans finished with a career-high 26 rebounds and matched his career best with 22 points, and Brooklyn beat Portland 111-93 on Wednesday night. Evans is the first NBA player to reach both those numbers in a game this season.

And to top it off, he was battling an infection that kept his right eye half-shut throughout the game.

”I just wanted to win, that’s it,” Evans said. ”But after a while your teammates get to tell you how many rebounds you got. Typical of my teammates: ‘Oh, you got this many. You got this many. You got this many.’ I just take whatever I can do.”

Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo called Evans’ performance ”absurd.”

It was Brooklyn’s 20th road win of the season, matching a franchise best. Brook Lopez added 28 points for the Nets, who built a big lead early and stretched it to as many as 30 points.

LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 24 points despite rolling his right ankle in the first half and briefly leaving the game…

Blazers rookie Damian Lillard, who is averaging just over 19 points, didn’t score before having 10 points in the third quarter. He finished with 15.

— Reported by Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press

Goran Dragic shines, but Suns lose to Nets

One of the best games of Goran Dragic’s career still wasn’t enough for the Phoenix Suns.

Instead, Deron Williams and C.J. Watson made a handful of crucial plays down the stretch and the Brooklyn Nets escaped with a 102-100 victory Sunday night.

Dragic fell a rebound shy of what would have been his second career triple-double with 31 points, 12 assists and nine boards. He was a point short of his career scoring high.

Dragic’s only career triple-double came with Houston two years ago and he knew he must have been close to one as this game progressed…

Brook Lopez added 20 points and Kris Humphries a season-best 17 for Brooklyn. Watson scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter for the Nets, playing without Joe Johnson, who bruised his thigh in Brooklyn’s loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles on Saturday night…

Wesley Johnson added 21 points – including 5 of 9 3-pointers – for the Suns, who were coming off consecutive blowout losses at home to Washington and Minnesota…

Dragic reached double digits in assists for a career-best fifth game in a row. His 11 double-digit assist efforts since the All-Star break are second only to Milwaukee’s 12 and Jennings has played one more game.

— Reported by Bob Baum of the Associated Press

Former Knicks star Ray Williams dead at age 58

Ray Williams, a former Knicks captain who 30 years ago teamed with Michael Ray Richardson to form one of the NBA’s most flamboyant backcourts, died today at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Williams, 58, had been suffering from colon cancer.

A guard with a chiseled physique, Williams was drafted 10th overall by the Knicks in 1977. He came to New York during the bridge years, after the glory championship days of Willis Reed and Bill Bradley, and before Patrick Ewing arrived to lift the franchise.

In the meantime, Williams and Richardson brought sizzle to Madison Garden. Richardson was the taller, wiry slashing player. Williams was built more like a fullback, with well-defined thighs and arms. He entered the league not long before Magic Johnson, and he was of that mold, blurring the lines between positions. He was 6-foot-3 and moved smoothly between the responsibilities of point guard, scoring guard and small even small forward.

— Reported by Craig Wolff of the Newark Star-Ledger

Lopez, D-Will lead Nets past Mavericks 113-96

Brook Lopez is just like Deron Williams. He enjoys visiting Dallas, too.

Lopez scored 38 points and Williams had 31 in his first visit since spurning his hometown team in free agency, leading the Brooklyn Nets past the Mavericks 113-96 on Wednesday night.

Williams scored 26 in the second half, repeatedly hitting shots and occasionally assisting on baskets by Lopez to prevent a Dallas rally in the fourth quarter.

Lopez matched the 38 points he scored in one of the five games he played last season, when the Nets snapped a 12-game losing streak in Dallas. Both times, he finished one point shy of his career high from two years ago against Detroit.

”The team played well in both games,” Lopez said with a laugh. ”I think that’s the correlation. It just depends on who’s hot. We have so many options on this team.” …

Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 16 points and had a team-high six rebounds compared to 22 boards for Reggie Evans of the Nets, who outrebounded the Mavericks 45-34.

— Reported by Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press

Andray Blatche chasing minutes and wins in upcoming free agency

Andray Blatche says money won’t mean much when he negotiates his next contract this summer, and there are complicated circumstances that give you reason to believe him.

In other words, Brooklyn – which won’t have cap space and doesn’t own Blatche’s Bird Rights – has an opportunity to re-sign its top free agent.

“I’m very aware (of my unique situation),” Blatche told the Daily News. “That’s what I’m saying. Everybody is probably thinking I’m looking to get that big check. I’m not. Not at all. I’m looking at what’s best for me.”

So what is best for the 26-year-old center?

“An opportunity to continue to play and win.”

— Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News

Hawks have chance to make up ground on Nets

At least one Hawks player is looking at Sunday’s key matchup against the Nets with an eye toward the playoffs.

DeShawn Stevenson said there is a something more at stake in the game.

“It means a lot because we might end up playing them (in the playoffs),” Stevenson said. “We don’t want to be down 3-1. That game is important.”

The Hawks have lost two of three meetings with the Nets this season, including a poor performance March 9 in a 93-80 loss at Philips Arena.

The Hawks (36-29) have the same record as the Bulls, who own the tiebreaker, for the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. They are two games behind the fourth-place Nets (38-27). The Celtics, who played the Bobcats on Saturday, would make it a three-way tie with win.

— Reported by Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution

Nets recall Tornike Shengelia and Tyshawn Taylor from D-League

The Brooklyn Nets have recalled forward Tornike Shengelia and guard Tyshawn Taylor from the Springfield Armor of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Billy King. The two players were assigned to Springfield on March 15.

In seven games for the Armor this season, Shengelia holds D-League averages of 25.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Shengelia posted an Armor franchise-high tying 39 points to go along with 18 rebounds on January 24 vs. Maine after recording a triple-double in his D-League debut December 21 against Erie. Last night, the 6’8’’ rookie notched 15 points with five rebounds and two assists.

Taylor has averaged 25.4 points, 7.6 assists and 4.2 rebounds in five D-League contests this season, including a 32-point performance in his debut December 21 against Erie and two double-doubles in his ensuing three games. In his most recent outing, the rookie out of Kansas posted 21 points, eight assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Legendary New York high school coach Jack Curran dies at 83

Jack Curran, who spent more than a half century at Archbishop Molloy High School and was among the nation’s winningest prep coaches in basketball and baseball, has died. He was 83.

His death was confirmed Thursday by the Queens school. The family has yet to release further information, the school said.

Curran had been weakened by lung and kidney problems. He broke his kneecap last month when he slipped on ice while on his way to church. The mishap did not prevent him from attending church that day.

Curran coached 55 years at the school. In 1958, he became the basketball coach at what was then St. Ann’s Academy. He succeeded Lou Carnesecca, who left to coach St. John’s.

NBA players Brian Winters, Kevin Joyce, Kenny Smith and Kenny Anderson played under Curran at Archbishop Malloy. Curran was the winningest coach in New York state, with 972 victories in basketball and 1,708 in baseball.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Brook Lopez scores 26, Nets beat Hornets

Having Brook Lopez and Andray Blatche on the floor at the same time worked in a big way for the Nets.

Brooklyn’s big men combined for 44 points in a 108-98 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday night.

Lopez led all scorers with 26 points and enjoyed sharing the floor with Blatche, who scored 12 of his 18 points in the second quarter.

”He has such a high basketball IQ,” said Lopez, ”and he plays so well with everyone on the floor, which makes everyone’s job a lot easier.”

Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said the Lopez-Blatche tandem works well with specific match-ups, and considering Brooklyn needed an offensive jolt after Monday’s dismal loss to lowly Philadelphia, the plan worked.

”Andray makes the game easier for me,” said Lopez, who went on a 10-point scoring run himself in the third quarter to preserve a dwindling lead. ”You see Andray playing out there like that, I want him to play the entire game then. The great thing about our bigs, there are a lot of good players there who can do different things, so we can have a lot of combinations.”

Lopez had a monstrous dunk over his twin brother, Robin, with 3:49 left in the third quarter. It’s something the Lopez family will be talking about for years. Robin finished with 15 points and eight rebounds…

Deron Williams had 21 points and 13 assists, continuing his strong play since the All-Star break.

— Reported by Chris R. Vaccaro of the Associated Press

Ticket prices at MSG going up again

The Knicks haven’t won a playoff series since 2001, but the Garden’s $800 million, three-year transformation continues to give owner James Dolan cause to jack up season-ticket prices.

In a press release, the Knicks announced season-ticket prices will go up, on average, 6.4 percent for next season. The ticket increase is related to the final stage of the three-year transformation being completed in time for next season.

Ticket prices for Rangers game will increase by four percent.

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post