Bogdanovic, Lopez and Johnson all come up big
BROOKLYN – If only the Brooklyn Nets played this way for all 82 games, they’d be considered one of the elite teams in the NBA. The Nets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-98 before a sellout crowd of 17,732 at the Barclays Center. The Nets who were led by Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez kept the game high and tight for three quarters until pulling away late in the fourth.
It didn’t help the Cavaliers as they experimented with Kevin Love at center during the fourth. Brook Lopez, as he does with most centers in the League was able to have his way. Lopez finished with 20 points and 9 rebounds.
Joe Johnson was stellar also as he delivered timely shooting when the Cavaliers made a run. He he hit a deep three pointer late in the fourth quarter. “We have a lot of confidence in Joe,” starting point guard Deron Williams said. “We’re used to seeing shots like that.”
The Nets know that they have to continue playing with a sense of urgency in order to make the post season. “We knew that we played much better off our court and we have many games this season on our court so we have to protect our court and play with energy,” Nets small forward Bojan Bogdanovic said.
Williams added: “We’ve been paying attention to what other teams have been doing and watching the standings; things you guys were asking us about early on. At the same tiem, we talked about it earlier today. We have to focus on one game at a time. We go this one, now we move on to the Lakers on Sunday.”
Jarrett Jack continued his solid play as his chipped in with 16 points 5 assist and was able to neutralize Kyrie Irving’s 26 points. LeBron James was the usual LeBron with 24 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds.
The Cavaliers which not only the world’s greatest player, LeBron and his sidekick Irving; but 3 former New York Knicks play important roles on the team. The Knicks could definitely use the healthy services of Iman Shumpert, JR Smith and Timofey Mozgov whom the Cavaliers sent the Denver Nuggets 2 feature first round picks.