VIDEO RECAP – FINAL: #Nets 96 – #Pacers 97

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The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Indiana Pacers by a score of 97-96  in Indiana.

The Nets were looking to put the Thunder debacle behind them quickly and get a nice road win against the East’s best Indiana Pacers in the process.

Joe Johnson went right after Paul George in the early parts of the game for six quick points and a 13-7 lead.  The Pacers turned the Nets over multiple times to end the first on a 6-0 run to lead 25-24 behind  balanced scoring.  Both teams shot over 50 percent in the first.

The Nets got a spark from Shaun Livingston with eight points in the first and he has now scored 18 points on 8-9 shooting in his last two first quarters.

A scrappy second went back and forth with both teams missing a ton of shots and the Pacers led 46-45 as the the Nets forced 12 Pacer turnover.  The rebounding continued to be an issue as the Pacers out-rebounded the Nets 18-11.  Livingston had 12 points while Johnson scored 10 and Paul Pierce pitched in with nine points to keep the Nets close.

The second half was more of the same and Indiana opened up on a 12-2 run to take a 58-47 in the first five minutes.  The defense was tested and they bounced back behind more stellar Livingston including eight straight points in the third quarter to help Brooklyn rally from a double digit deficit.

It was a two point game going into the final 12 minutes but as the quarter went on it was obvious that the Nets just could not come up with a critical rebound down the stretch.  Time and time again they gave Indiana second chances with Brooklyn missing Andray Blatche and Andrei Kirilenko badly on the boards. On top of the rebounding woes the players who kept Brooklyn in the game went cold and shot 2-for-15 in the fourth quarter for a total of seven points in Johnson, Livingston and Pierce.

David West hit three big buckets in the final minutes to help the Pacers hold off the Nets as Pierce’s (15 points, 5 rebounds, 6 steals) corner 3-pointer came up short that could’ve tied the game with four seconds left.  Pacers won 97-96.

The Nets has a season-high 14 steals and forced Indiana into a season-high  22 turnovers to give themselves a chance at the win.

Livingston had a game high and season-high 24 points in the loss while Deron Williams struggled mightily going 3-for-12 and scoring 13 points to go with only six assists.

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“We fought,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said. “We gave ourselves a great opportunity to win on the road against a top team in the East. That’s what you ask from your guys, that we have a chance.”