• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

Brooklyn NY

November 4th 2016

Hornets 99   Nets 95

Last season the Nets were unable to get a win against the Hornets, this season they hoped to change their fortunes. The Nets welcomed the Hornets for their first match-up of the season. Because of the hamstring injury to Jeremy Lin, Isaiah Whitehead got his first start as a professional basketball player. The Nets came into this game with a 2-3 record and the story line began and ended with the play of Brook Lopez. When Brook plays well he Nets win. The Nets looked for both trends to continue.

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Isaiah Whitehead pre game.. Photo:Sherman Gomez (PureSportsNY)

 

Once again Brook Lopez got off to a great start. He scored on his first four attempts from the field and finished with 10-points in the first quarter. The Hornets struggled to keep him out of the paint. Cody Zeller could not keep Brook from getting to his spots. Brook was aggressive on offense and seemed to be on his way to a huge night offensively. Isaiah Whitehead played well in his first start, he made a few mistakes but overall he showed that he could run the offense and keep the ball moving amongst his teammates. He had a few daring drives to the basket where he showed that he could be explosive on offense.

 

Coach Atkinson liked what he saw from his rookie point guard. He stated that he did a good job for his first start and he showed signs of progression in his overall game. Whitehead finished with 8-points and 3 assists. He was in foul trouble at times however with more playing time and experience he will learn to stay away from the tough calls.

 

The Nets had a great start to this game however Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum kept the visitors close. They both had 11-points in the first. The Hornets came into this game struggling to get going early, a trend that coach Clifford wanted to avoid. Walker who finished with 30-points really started to get going at the beginning of the third as he scored 7-points to give his team their first lead at 64-60 with 4:19 remaining. Walker, a Bronx native always plays well against both New York teams and he has been the reason why the Hornets have been successful when they are in New York City.

 

“That third quarter really hurt us….” – Coach Atkinson.

 

The third period doomed the home team; the Hornets clamped down defensively and started to make shots. They also made it very tough on Brook Lopez when he attempted to establish himself in the paint. They began double teaming him and applied pressure to entry passes to reduce his touches in the paint. The Hornets bench played well, Spencer Hawes added 13-points and helped out defensively against Lopez. Frank Kaminsky finished with 8-points and hit two 3’s late to hold off the Brooklyn Nets rally.

 

The Nets shot 9-36 from behind the arc with Brook taking 6 of those attempts, he plays best when he plays inside out. He has been hitting the 3 as of late however he should do what he does best in the paint. Trevor Booker was again very active and his presence could be seen across the stat sheet, 12-points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks. Booker has been a great addition to the roster and his efforts have been received well by his teammates and fans. Sean Kilpatrick had 19-points off the bench and helped the Nets rally late to try to pull out the win.

 

The Nets fall to 2-4 on the season, but the team has been competitive. Their next game is Tuesday November 8th when they host the young Minnesota Timberwolves to the Barclays Center.

Thank You for reading

Sherman Gomez is a Staff Writer for PureSortsNY

Follow him on Twitter: sherman@shermangmz1

Email: shermangmz1@gmail.com

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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