He's Back…..Lopez that is. Nets beat Champs in Dallas
The New Jersey Nets had not won in Big D since 2000 and after a stellar performance from Brook Lopez (38pts 6 rebs) the Nets can now start a new streak. This was an exciting game as the Nets “weren’t” the Nets to start the game and they actually held a 28-23 lead after the first quarter which has been an issue all year. They seemed to come out focused and played great team defense in the first half led by Deron Williams 10 first quarter points and an actual BIG man in the middle to deter teams from rolling to rim at will. Newcomer Gerald Green (10 points) got his first action about 6 minutes into the game and immediately paid dividends with his passion and quickness as the Nets have not seen that all year from the SF position. At one point Green took a lob from Sundiata Gaines and almost hit his head on the rim as he flew up to grab the lob. His energy and quickness will be key for the Nets to go on a run and get something out of that position.
Lopez looked much quicker with the ball, finished when fouled going to the basket and showed great emotion as he played longer than the 30 minutes that Avery Johnson wanted him to play. Johnson wanted this win so he let Lopez finish the game and by doing so Lopez hit the 2 game winning free throws after a powerful drive to the rim to give the nets a 93-92 win in Dallas. This is exactly what the Nets have been waiting for all year and hopefully some good charma will come from this and all the injuries will fade and they can get back to playing as a cohesive unit.
Deron Williams finished a cold shooting night after the first quarter going 3-15 but did a great job hitting the open man as he does so well with 12 assists and 4 rebounds. Hump did his usual dirty work and ended up with yet another double double (10 and 15) and even showed the world he CAN indeed dunk with one hand. Hump made a few “motor plays” that only Hump makes and took a broken lob to MarShon Brooks and threw it down for a spectacular play. Anthony Morrow had 15 points and Gaines helped out with 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
All around good game to start the second half for the Road Warriors (8-12) and it continues Friday night @ the Celtics.
Crazy Double Alley Oop from the Nets last night brought to you by @DimeMag
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