January 12th 2017
Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY
Pelicans 104 Nets 95
Without Anthony Davis the Pelicans looked to get another win on the road and another win in New York City, this time in Brooklyn against the Nets. Davis did attempt to warm up but could only complete one drill before calling it a night. The Pelicans won 5 of their last 8 games while the Nets were looking to avoid their eight straight loss. Solomon Hill got the start in place of the injured Davis. The Nets were still without Jeremy Lin as he continues to rehab from a hamstring injury.
Anthony Davis tried to give it a go before the game but could not make it through his workout.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first quarter. The Pelicans were led by point guard Jrue Holiday with 10-points while Solomon Hill added 9. They shot a blistering 60% from the field and 62.5% from behind the arc as they hit 5 out of their 8 attempts in the first. Holiday finished with 10-points in the first and was a leader out on the floor for his team.
Jrue is known for his high basketball IQ and it showed on the floor tonight. He was patient on offense, got his teammates where they needed to be and then he got hot and began looking for his offense.
“Kinda got hot and was on a roll early…tonight it was me.” – Jrue Holiday
The Nets were not as prolific from the floor but they did manage to score 31 points in the period. Bojan Bogdanovic led the home team with 8-points. The Nets hit 6 threes in the opening period and then fell in love with the perimeter shots. Brook Lopez got a decent amount of touches in the paint and was aggressive early.
The first half play of the Nets reserves was very encouraging. Sean Kilpatrick came off the bench to score 9-points. Caris LeVert was very active on both ends of the floor; he was in the passing lanes and was aggressive offensively. The Nets forced the Pelicans into 10 turnovers in the first two quarters while only committing 5 themselves and went into the half with a 57-51 lead.
The Nets were seemingly in command of this game then things fell apart. Brooklyn let the Pelicans get confidence in the 3rd period. Both teams scored the same amount of point (22) but the Pelicans began executing offensively and players stepped up and performed in the absence of Anthony Davis.
Tyreke Evans had himself a game. He finished with 29-point on 10-15 shooting from the field. He also had 4 steals and was reminding everyone how he played when he is healthy. Evans scored 21 of his 29 in the second half. He looked energetic and engaged in the game tonight. He showcased some of his ball handling and he hit quite a few timely shots to keep his team close as they were looking to steal the game away from the Nets.
Terrance Jones also had a big night for the Pelicans he had 24-points and 12 rebounds. Jrue Holiday stated that Jones could have had 30-points on the night.
How did the Nets lose this game? This answer is simple; they did not play aggressively in the absence of Davis who is the Pelicans defensive presence in the paint. Ironically the Nets outscored the Pelicans in the paint but it seemed that they could have made a better effort to get to the bucket and to the free-throw line.
“We didn’t make the plays…didn’t do a better job of executing down the end.” Kenny Atkinson
42 attempts from behind the arc and only 11 free throws reflect each other. The Nets settled for too many perimeter shots. They only made 9 of the 42 threes they took and shot a woeful 21% for the game. Five different Nets took five or more 3’s in the game. The Pelicans however shot 17-25 from the free throw line, as they were the more aggressive team.
This Nets took a 92-89 lead with 5:33 left in the game after Sean Kilpatrick hit a 3, the Pelicans would then go on a 15-3 run the rest of the way to close out the game. The Nets had 7 turnovers in the 4th and were outscored 31-16 overall.
Brook Lopez finished with 20-point and 6 rebounds and Sean Kilpatrick finished with 18-points and 7 rebounds. The Nets had 5 players in double figure scoring and 38-points overall from the bench.
The Nets have now lost 8 consecutive games, the team needs to regroup collectively and try to get out of this slump. They have to get rid of some the trends especially the trend of poor second half performances. The Nets also need to try to balance their perimeter attack and inside game. Kenny Atkinson wants to keep shooing the 3 however they have not been shooting them well as of late. The Nets face the Rockets on Sunday at home where they will look to pick up a big win and try to add one in the winning column.
Thank You for reading
Sherman Gomez is a Staff Writer for PureSportsNY
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