Brooklyn Nets Blog – Page 74 – NBA Blog

Knicks play Nets in Brooklyn tonight

From Madison Square Garden to the Garden State, the Knicks cast a shadow the Nets could never escape.

The Knicks were considered first rate and the Nets second class, even in years when the better team was in New Jersey. The Nets would watch fans in orange and blue take over their home games, believing all along things would be different when they finally got their shot at the Knicks in Brooklyn.

Well, here it comes.

The city rivals play the makeup of their postponed season opener on Monday, a matchup the Knicks insist is just another game but one that’s probably much bigger to the Nets.

”I think obviously being on center stage tomorrow night, all eyes on Brooklyn, truly makes this a very special night for us because it’s something that we worked for, for so long,” Nets CEO Brett Yormark said Sunday. ”Even though it’s not opening night, it’s a dramatic night. I mean, the Knicks are playing well, the Nets are playing well, Brooklyn’s certainly embraced this franchise, and I think tomorrow night is hopefully the start of some really special nights between the Nets and the Knicks.

”Yeah, I’d love to win the game, but it’s more than that. It’s about making a statement that this franchise has arrived and we are certainly part of the conversation when people are talking about pro basketball in New York.”

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Reggie Evans fined $5,000 for flopping

Reggie Evans has made history.

Evans, who was one of the main subjects of the NBA’s preseason instructional video about the new flopping rules, has become the first player to be fined for flopping under the new anti-flopping policy.

The Nets’ backup power forward was fined $5,000 after he committed his second flop of the season in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s 95-90 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles, when he clearly exaggerated contact from Lakers forward Metta World Peace.

“It’s a tough spot for us, because Reggie sets physical screens, he rebounds, and I don’t necessarily consider him a flopper,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said before last night’s game here against the Warriors. “I don’t see him flopping in practice, he just plays hard and goes all out. It’s just a tough one. Hopefully he won’t be a marked man, even if there is a physical confrontation out there on the floor, that they won’t consider it flopping.”

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

Gerald Wallace wanted Kobe to shoot with his eyes closed

Gerald Wallace is rapidly becoming a cult hero amongst Nets fans, and here’s a cool example of why.

With the game on the line Tuesday night and Kobe Bryant at the charity stripe, Wallace began jawing with the Laker great.

What was Wallace talking about?

“I was trying to get him to close his eyes to shoot.”

— Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News

Metta World Peace calls the Nets floppers

The Lakers forward went on a Twitter rant on Tuesday night about the flopping Nets, referencing two flops by Gerald Wallace and one by Reggie Evans.

Here’s World Peace’s timeline:

“what was the best flop tonight? out of the three?i am so happy the nba charges $5000 per flop……”

“the two gerad wallace flops were crazy..lol i am on the court like”what in the world”!!! it is crazy because i am still strong but quicker.”

— Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Blog)

Dwight Howard doesn’t care if D-Will is upset

Dwight Howard lost a lot of friends and supporters during his curious ride out of Orlando. But if one of those severed relationships was with Deron Williams, Howard – the man who wanted to please everybody — doesn’t care.

“It’s my life so if he’s upset because I made a decision for me, so be it,” Howard said. “If he doesn’t want to be friends because I’m on another team, then so be it. There’s no need to smooth things over.”

The two All-Stars plotted to play together in Brooklyn, but Howard essentially killed that possibility by waiving his right to become a free agent last March. Howard has said the decision was based on his desire to keep everybody happy, even though it forfeited his opportunity to sign with the Nets in the summer.

Instead, Howard was dealt in August from the Magic to the Lakers, who host the Nets on Tuesday. The center declined to discuss his desire to play in Brooklyn and whether it’s still alive.

— Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Blog)

Dwight Howard looking forward to playing against Nets

Dwight Howard had just come off a 28-point, 13-rebound, three-block detonation against the Rockets Sunday. And he announced that A) he and Kobe Bryant — who had a triple double — still are not on the same page and B) he still is only at 75 to 80 percent health following back surgery.

Good luck, Nets.

“They have a great point guard and a pretty good team, so we just have to play hard,” Howard, leading with Deron Williams, said of the Nets who visit Staples Center here Tuesday night.

And then Howard turned his attention to Brook Lopez.

“He’s tough. He knows how to score,” Howard, who has averaged 17.1 points and 12.9 rebounds in 28 career games against the Nets, said of Lopez. “They look for him a lot in the offense, they have a lot of great plays.”

— Reported by Fred Kerber of the New York Post

Gerald Wallace returns to Nets lineup

The Nets got a much-needed boost when Gerald Wallace finally returned to the lineup in last night’s 99-90 win over the Kings.

Wallace, who finished with four points, a rebound and three assists in 24:30, started and played for the first time since spraining his left ankle in the final minute of the Nets’ season-opening win over the Raptors at Barclays Center on Nov. 3, and made it through the game without incident.

“I’m good,” Wallace said. “I’m ready to go, but whatever he wants me to do, I’m down with it. We’re early in the season, so obviously they want to be cautious with it, so we’ll see how I feel tomorrow from this game and go from there.”

Coach Avery Johnson said the plan going into the game was to get Wallace into the game for four six-minute bursts, to try to get him to about 24 minutes, and Johnson was happy with how things went.

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

Nets beat Rondo-less Celtics, 102-97

Craving a victory over a top team, all the Brooklyn Nets needed was someone to make a couple of big shots.

That’s one of the reasons they traded for Joe Johnson.

Johnson made the tiebreaking basket with 3:03 left, followed with another jumper, and the Nets beat the Boston Celtics 102-97 on Thursday night for their fourth straight victory.

Johnson finished only 6 of 17 from the field, but he had the two biggest makes of the game in the biggest victory his new team has recorded since acquiring him from Atlanta…

Williams and Brook Lopez each scored 24 points for the Nets, who were blown out by Miami in their lone game against a top opponent this season, their first with a rebuilt team and high expectations in Brooklyn…

Johnson finished with 19 points and eight rebounds for the Nets in front of a sold-out crowd of 17,732 that was divided but certainly loud in the tense, final minutes.

Pierce scored 22 points and Leandro Barbosa had 17 in place of Rondo, who was out with a sprained right ankle. Kevin Garnett added 14 points but Boston had its three-game win streak snapped and lost to the Nets for just the third time in the past 21 meetings.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

InsideHoops.com note: The Nets are still without forward Gerald Wallace.

With Rondo out, Barbosa starts for Celtics in Brooklyn

Rajon Rondo didn’t arrive until an hour until game time in his sweats tonight, and said he was uncertain if he was going to play on his sprained right ankle.

But in these cases the decision goes to Doc Rivers, who in turn defers to trainer Ed Lacerte. From that perspective, the choice was simple – no Rondo.

The point guard, who sprained his ankle in the third quarter of Wednesday night’s win over Utah, was thus placed by Leandro Barbosa in the starting lineup.

— Reported by the Boston Herald (Blog)

Nets finish home-and-home sweep of Magic

The Brooklyn Nets knew it wouldn’t stay this easy, even if five quarters of evidence said otherwise.

The game did get close, and unlike last Monday’s meltdown, this time the Nets handled it.

Brook Lopez scored 20 points, Kris Humphries added 14 points and 21 rebounds, and the Nets beat the Orlando Magic 82-74 on Sunday to complete a home-and-home sweep.

Deron Williams finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and a couple key plays down the stretch after what once appeared to be another blowout got tight. The Nets beat the Magic 107-68 at Orlando on Friday and jumped out to an early 20-point lead in this one.

But after losing a 22-point lead at home against Minnesota on Monday, Brooklyn almost coughed up another huge cushion, letting Orlando get within five in the final 2 minutes…

Glen Davis had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who have dropped four in a row after opening with two wins in their first season since trading Dwight Howard.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press