October 29th 2016
Nets 103 Pacers 94
The theme for the Brooklyn Nets this season is “Brooklyn Grit.” In last night’s home opener against the Indiana Pacers the Nets showed why that motto will be crucial if they want to have a competitive season.
After a frustrating performance in the season opener against the Boston Celtics, Brook Lopez returned home and redeemed himself. He went 1-7 form the field in 21 minutes of action on Wednesday however in last night’s game he was more active and aggressive in the paint. Brook was productive, scoring 25-points on 10-18 shooting in 25 minutes of action. For the Nets to be competitive this season it has to start with Lopez, they must keep him involved in the offense. Brook also has to remain aggressive and do the things that he does well. Last night he took three uncharacteristic shots from behind the arc. That’s not his game, when he ran the floor and established himself in the paint he was successful against the Pacers interior defense.
The Nets welcomed a familiar face back to Barclays Center, Thaddeus Young who was with the Nets last season returned to face some of his old teammates. Young had 19-points and 8 rebounds for the visiting team.
The Pacers are considered by some to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference after some of their off-season acquisitions and after scoring 130-points in their season opener they seemed to fit that description. Against the Nets they came out a little flat however they were able to build leads of 10 or more points throughout the game. Paul George had 22-points however he did not have a good shooting night from the floor as he shot 8-22. Myles Turner added 13-points and 11 rebounds. The Pacers seemed to lose some of their early magic in the game as they went deep into their bench. They were already without Aaron Brooks due to injury and they lost Rodney Stuckey early in the game as he went down with a hamstring injury.
Jeff Teague (4-points) and Al Jefferson (2-points) , both new additions to the Pacers roster struggled against the Nets. The Pacers will need consistent contributions from these two as the season progresses.
The Nets were down by seven heading into the 4th period however they turned on the jets as their grit was on full display. They never gave up and kept playing with passion. They chipped away at the lead several times but could never get a grasp on it until the 4th.New York native (Yonkers) Sean Kilpatrick led the charge; he had 10 of his 18-points in the 4th and was 2-2 from behind the arc in the final period.
Jeremy Lin had 21-points and 9 assists in his first regular season home game as a member of the Nets. Not quite Linsanity anymore but the veteran guard has shown that he can be a good leader for this team. Trevor Booker added 10-points and 11 rebounds for the Nets; he was very active on both ends of the floor.
This was the first win for the Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson; Jeremy Lin gave him the game ball in the locker-room after the game. The Nets look to build on this win as they take on the young Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday on the road.
Thank You for reading.
Feature Photo credit: Steven Ryan Newsday
Sherman Gomez is a staff writer for PureSportsNY
Twitter: sherman@shermangmz1
Email: shermangmz1@gmail.com