VIDEO RECAP – FINAL: #Cavs 82 – #Nets 89
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The Brooklyn Nets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers by a score of 89-82 in Brooklyn.Brooklyn was coming off the season highlight in Joe Johnson’s buzzer beating walk off for the win in Oklahoma City and looked to open a four game homestand with a win at home against struggling Cleveland.
The game started with the Nets leading 22-17 after one quarter of play behind a surprising offensive force in Reggie Evans. Evans scored eight points on 3-for-4 shooting and grabbed five rebounds early.
Deron Williams was very aggressive again playing alongside Shaun Livingston, who started again, with 13 points and four assists at half to help the Nets build a quality 51-38 lead. It was the fourth time this year that the Nets have held an opponent to under 40 points at half.
Nets shot 54 percent scoring 24 points in the paint in the first half only to see all that great work get washed away with a putrid third quarter where they were once again outscored 27-16.
Somehow after letting the entire lead evaporate and falling behind the Kyrie Irving-less Cavs 61-58 with two minutes left in the quarter. The Nets somehow salvaged the quarter with six straight free throws and a 3-pointer from Mirza Teletovic to be up 67-64 after three.
This time the Nets found some heart and shook it off with a strong fourth quarter defensively holding Cleveland to 4-of-21 shooting.
Andray Blatche, who missed the previous four games for personal reasons, made his presence felt late in the game with consecutive baskets to help the Nets take control for good by scoring seven straight points to open a nine-point cushion. He finished with 12 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes.
The Nets “small ball lineup” is now 3-0 as is Jason Kidd 3-0 since coaching without a tie on.
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“The guys came out with the same effort and energy that they did in Oklahoma, and the result was the same,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Reggie stepped up big, being able to start and control the boards for us. He was also aggressive in the first quarter making some shots. … He was a big plus.”
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[box]KEY STATS: The Nets tallied 24 assists while committing only nine turnovers.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Deron Williams finished with 21 points and six assists on 7-for-10 shooting.
NEXT UP: The Nets will be back in action on Monday night when they host the Atlanta Hawks at 7:30pm in Brooklyn. The game can be seen on YES. [/box]
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