• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

March 24th 2017

 

The Brooklyn Nets have now won two consecutive games. After a game winning shot by Brook Lopez against the Detroit Pistons and a blowout win against the Suns last night the Nets are riding high with confidence as they set to face the Washington Wizards tonight at the Verizon Center in DC. The Nets are not chasing a playoff spot but they look to play spoiler as the Wizards try to gain some ground in the East, they currently sit 3rd right above the Toronto Raptors.

 

In the game last night we saw some of what the Nets have been looking for all season and what they hope to take into next season. The bench was outstanding last night against the Suns they scored 81 of the Nets’ 126-points. Quincy Acy, Isaiah Whitehead, KJ McDaniels, Trevor Booker, Justin Hamilton and Archcie Goodwin all scored in double figures as they outscored the Suns’ bench by 59 points.

 

The first quarter was an absolute disaster for the Nets; they looked completely out of it and were down 10 by the end of the period, 32-22. Devin Booker had 12-points just in the first and looked like he was heading for a monster offensive night. Marquese Chriss was putting on a dunk contest in the first stanza as well, he had 11-points in the period.

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Devin Booker pregame. Photo: Sherman Gomez for Puresportsny

“Pens were flying and clipboards were flying.” Coach Atkinson said as he described the huddle the team had before the second quarter began. The Nets needed a wake up call and that was the moment.

The second quarter began with an Isaiah Whitehead 6-point run and the Nets were off and running. Jeremy Lin finished off the first half with 10-points all coming in the second quarter as he like most of the starters struggled in that first quarter.

They held the Suns to 18-points in the second quarter and 15 in the third. They completely turned around their defensive effort especially against Booker who scored 28-points in the game but shot 9-26 from the field. It was a rough night for any Phoenix player not named Devin Booker or Marquese Chriss. 

The Suns bench only scored 22-points, part of it is because they were undermanned but it still does not take away from the defensive pressure the Nets showed after the disastrous first period.

 

The largest lead for the Brooklyn squad was 33. They did this without shooting well from behind the arc (27%), and without any one player scoring over 20-points, it was a complete team effort. The new players especially seem to be buying into Atkinson’s system and they have all played well as of late.

 

KJ McDaniels has really come into his own since joining the team, his athleticism and strength has really allowed him to seamlessly transition into the Nets offense. He had 16-points, 8 rebounds and 2-steals in 24 minutes of action last night.

Archie Goodwin faced his old team and scored 12-points in a little over 7 minutes of action. He entered the game in the 4th quarter. Yesterday was the 8th day of his 10-day contract. He hid speak to some of his former teammates but re-stated that his focus was just getting better as a Brooklyn Net.

 

Brook led all scorers with 19-points, he did most of his damage in the third period and did not play in the fourth quarter because of the huge lead.

 

“Our bench was big-time tonight.” – Brook Lopez.

 

Speaking of the bench the Nets face an old friend tonight when they visit the Wizards. Bojan Bogdanovic has been playing very well since joining the Wizards and has been a welcome addition to their bench as they get set to make this playoff run.

 

The Suns rested a majority of their veterans as coach Watson decided to go with most of the youngsters as they are also in an evaluation mode as they look forward to next season. With Booker and Chriss they have two young stars that can be a good combination in their future.

Thank You for reading

Sherman Gomez is a Staff Writer for PureSportsNY

Follow him on Twitter: sherman@shermangmz1

Email: Sherman@puresportsny.com

Instagram: dash_nathan

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By Sherman Gomez

"Basketball is my favorite sport, I like the way they dribble up and down the court." "I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller." "Last week messed around and got a triple double." I write about basketball sometimes and then I try to go play....

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