Nets 99 – Kings 90

The Nets went into the Sleep Train Arena and put the Kings to sleep in the fourth quarter as they once again squandered a decent lead that they built in the first half after the Kings came out of the shoot playing well.  Gerald Wallace made his first start since spraining his ankle on opening night and played his usual all around game with suffocating defense. 

The Nets seemed to wake up a bit after in the second quarter and came back and rolled to a 33 point quarter behind Andray Blatche to take a 54-44 lead at half.

Blatche was 9-for-9 in the first half , led team with 22 points on 11-for-12, and most of the buckets came from beautiful assists from Deron Williams as the Nets pounded the Kings inside all night.

“I got to open spots and my teammates were looking for me,” Blatche said. “When the double team came I was able to make the open shots. Our starters believe in the second group because we play with energy and effort. They know we’ve got their back.”

“I’m not sure, but I think this is the first time in my career that I’ve been on a team that’s won five straight,” Blatche said. “I’m at a loss for words right now. It’s a good feeling to be on a team that has a good chance of winning every game.”

The problem the Nets have had this year is coming out of halftime slow and giving up the leads they built early in the game and having to fight to win games in the fourth quarter and this game was no different.

The Nets have found ways to hold onto these games after letting the leads slip away against lesser opponents but this trend needs to stop if they plan to be considered and elite team and compete with the big boys of the NBA.  Regardless the Nets have now won 5 in a row and that hasn’t been done since 2002-03 when they went to the NBA Finals.

Next up is the Los Angeles Lakers tomorrow night at The Staples Center at 10:30 on YES and NBATV.