GAME 3: Thunder 85 – Nets 116

The Brooklyn Nets followed up their road win in Detroit with a home-opening thrashing of the much depleted Oklahoma City Thunder 116-85.

The Nets came out shooting well and took a 32-19 lead after the first quarter as they shot 5-for-7 from 3-point range. The lead ballooned to 19 at halftime and then the game got out of hand in the second half as the Nets went up by as many as 35 points to cruise home to a balanced 31 point win.

The Nets had 6 players in double figures and spread the ball around with ease and passion.

It was a great way to start their season at home in Brooklyn.

STAT OF THE GAME:

The Nets had their second straight game with only 8 turnovers and had 25 assists to continue their unselfish play.

STATS:

LEADING SCORERS:

Alan Anderson – 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting and 4-for-4 from deep.

Reggie Jackson – 23 points on 8-for-20 shooting and he handed out 5 assists.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Brook Lopez  – The big man made his season debut following his mid-foot sprain and it didn’t start out very well as he picked up two quick fouls in the first two and a half minutes of play to finds himself on the bench.

Lionel Hollins wanted to see Lopez get into a rhythm and put him back in with three fouls for an extended period in the second quarter and Lopez responded.  He got into a bit of a flow the rest of the game going 6 of 10 from the field and 6 of 7 from the foul line in 24 minutes of play to end with 18 points.  The big man did have a couple of monster dunks that got his teammates and the crowd into a frenzy.

“I can’t put it in words,” Lopez said. “It was great to be back out there. I’ve missed it for a long time and our team definitely took care of business tonight. Our guys make it easy.”