NETS GAMENIGHT: #Nets @ #Suns
Brooklyn Nets (40-29) @ Phoenix Suns (23-47)
US Airways Center 9:00
TV: YES – RADIO: WFAN 660 AM/101.9 FM
The Nets are coming off a tough loss at he hands of the Los Angeles Clippers 101-95 in a game that Brooklyn had in hand going into the fourth quarter with a five point lead. Blake Griffin was held in check by the Nets frontline of Reggie Evans and Brook Lopez.
The game was there for the taking late when the Nets had the ball down 92-90 with under two minutes to play and Deron Williams turned it over when he nonchalantly telegraphed a pass to Joe Johnson that was picked off and taken back for a dunk by Jamal Crawford. The rest of the game was a free throw shooting contest and Chris Paul made all of his free throws to ice the game.
Paul went nuts in the fourth with 17 points and turned a five point deficit to begin the fourth into a six point victory. Tough loss for Brooklyn as they lost a game in the standings to the New York Knicks in the process.
[blockquote]”We needed a couple more free throws or a few less turnovers down the stretch,” interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “We put ourselves in a position to win the game, and they just did a much better job closing it out than we did.”[/blockquote]
The Nets need to put that lost opportunity behind them and make sure they take care of business against the reeling Phoenix Suns. The Suns have lost eight of the last ten games games and lost the last three home games and the most recent being a 31 point disaster at the hands of the Timberwolves. This is a must win for Brooklyn to get back on track and move to 3-1 on the current eight-game roadtrip.
MATCHUP OF THE GAME: Deron Williams vs Goran Dragic
Deron Williams scored 18 points and dished out nine assist in the loss to the Clippers and played well for the most part. He kept Chris Paul in check for most of the game until the fourth quarter when he sat and then came back to a hot CP3. Williams played well in the first meeting with Phoenix and helped the Nets blowout the Suns 99-79. He is hot as of late and will need his A game to handle the crafty Suns point guard.
Goran Dragic is one of the better players on the rebuilding Suns and is averaging 14 points and seven assists this year. Dragic can be a gamechanger with his probing style and isn’t the fastest guard but is quick enough to get into the paint and create matchup problems. If the Suns are to upset the Nets then Dragic will have to play big and get his teammates involved early.
STAT FOR TONIGHT: Brooklyn is looking for their 19th road win which would be one less than the team record of 20 in 2005-06. They are also looking to sweep the season series with Phoenix.
Nets:
Joe Johnson (quad contusion) is questionable
None