Spencer Dinwiddie leads the Nets with 24 points and hits a milestone, as does Garrett Temple and Jarrett Allen

No Magic, Just Defense.

If there was ever a game presenting a tale of two halves, last night’s game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Orlando Magic is its representation. The Nets led the Magic by 19 points (67-48) at 8:58 in the third quarter. How do you have that much of a cushion and allow the opposing team to creep, creep, creep, take over and you lose by two points? That’s exactly what happened at the Barclays Center last night, the Nets went from a 19-point lead to lose to the Orlando Magic by two points 115-113. The Nets, still holding on to the seventh seed in the NBA playoffs standing, fell to 26-30 with the loss to the Magic. Meanwhile, the Magic in the eighth spot in the playoff standing, inched ever so close to taking over the seventh spot, improved to 25-32 with the victory.

Coach Speak: Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson on the second half and the Magic’s adjustments:

“We gave up 74 points,” Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told the media. “I think that’s the story there. (The) defense was fantastic in the first half, second half we let down defensively. I think it obviously got loose there, that kind of got them going. (Aaron) Gordon made some big shots too. At the end of the day, good credit to that. They deserved to win. They kind of overran us in the second half. We could never really get stops against 74 points. That’s astronomical, it’s tough to win a game like that.”

You can always count on Coach Atkinson to give the other team credit when credit is due.

BY THE NUMBERS:

On the positive side, Brooklyn outrebounded Orlando 49-41 (+8), including a 13-7 (+6) edge on the offensive glass.

The Nets also outscored the Magic 16-8 in second-chance points and 11-5 in fast breakpoints.

The Orlando Magic field goal percentage was 49.4 percent (44-of-89), while the Brooklyn Nets shot 47.9 percent (46-of-96). The Nets took seven more shots, but not enough cigars.

The Nets did outscore the Magic from behind the arc. The Nets hit 43.2 percent (16-of-37) of its shots from three-point land versus the Magic’s 38.2 percent (13-of-34).

But when it came to points at the stripe, the Nets barely made it to the free-throw line, hitting 62.5 percent (5-of-8) versus the Magic’s 82.4 percent (14 of 17).

The Nets led the Magic 27-22 at the end of the first quarter last night and had the lead over Orlando 54-41 at halftime. But the tale of the second half, tells the story. The Orlando Magic outscored the Brooklyn Nets 74-59 in the second half.

Why do the Brooklyn Nets at times have difficulty holding leads?

“It’s the NBA,” responded Coach Atkinson. “Lead’s never safe. You’re up 20, you don’t feel comfortable. So, like I said, that’s why I was so happy about the Charlotte game. Tonight, we didn’t do it. They got back in it and then they got their rhythm and then we could not get stops. We tried some different things; we tried some zone. But again, you’ve got to give them credit. They just simply overran us in that second half.”

Brooklyn Nets Scoring Leaders

Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie led the Nets against the Orlando Magic last night with 24 points and eight assists in 34 minutes. Caris LeVert recorded 19 points, five rebounds, and a season-high-tying eight assists in 34 minutes; Garrett Temple scored 18 points and five assists off the bench in 28 minutes; Jarrett Allen registered his 25th double-double of the season with 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, along with three assists and two blocks in 26 minutes; Joe Harris posted 12 points and six boards in 30 minutes, and; Taurean Prince chipped in 10 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes.

For the Orlando Magic, Aaron Gordon, who got barely any rest, led all scorers with 27 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots in 41 minutes; Evan Fournier recorded 21 points and four assists in 31 minutes; Terrence Ross came off the bench and matched Fournier’s point total with 21 points, but Ross added eight rebounds to his total in 28 minutes; Nikola Vucevic posted 16 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in 34 minutes, and; James Ennis III chipped in 13 points and four rebounds in 27 minutes.

Coach Speak: Orlando Magic head coach Steve Clifford on what turned the game around for the Magic in the third quarter:

In two words said Coach Clifford, “Terrence Ross”. “He just got going. I think he was 8-for-9 in the second half, and you guys have seen him. He’s done it so many times. He gets on a streak like that. And then Aaron Gordon also played huge minutes and made a ton of big plays at both ends of the floor. We struggled to guard them. We were better in the second half, but obviously we made a bunch of shots.”

And, Spencer Dinwiddie co-signed on Coach Clifford’s analysis of what opened the door for the Magic to get back in the game.

“Defense,” said Dinwiddie. “They had 74 points in the second half. (Terrence) Ross made a ton of plays during their run and obviously (Aaron) Gordon had a big three. If we do our job defensively then we’re not in that situation.”

What’s Next for the Orlando Magic and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Orlando Magic will head to Atlanta to face the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, February 26, 2020, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

As for the Brooklyn Nets, they will board a plane for a four-game road trip. The Nets will travel to Washington to play the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, February 26, at 7:00 p.m. ET. Then, on Friday, February 28, 2020, the Nets will be in Atlanta to play the Atlanta Hawks. The Nets will travel further south to Miami to take on the Miami Heat in a back-to-back on Saturday, February 29, 2020, at 7:30 p.m. The Brooklyn Nets will get three days rest before taking on the Boston Celtics in Boston on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. And on the very next day, Wednesday, March 4, 2020, the Nets will finally return home to Brooklyn to play the Memphis Grizzlies at the Barclays Center at 7:30 p.m.

TIP-INS:

Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie’s first basket in last night’s game against the Orlando Magic gave him 1,145 points for the season, marking a new single-season career-high. Dinwiddie tallied his previous career-high of 1,143 points last season.

Dinwiddie has now recorded a team-leading 34 games with 20-plus points this season after notching 18 games with 20-plus points all of last season.

Brooklyn Nets guard Garrett Temple posted 18 points last night just one game after recording 15 points and 11 boards (his first-career double-double) on Saturday at Charlotte. This is the first time this season that Temple has tallied 15-plus points in consecutive games, and he's reached double digits in four of his last five contests.

Jarrett Allen’s 25 double-doubles this season surpasses his previous single-season career-high of 24 (done last season). The only player in the league 21 years-old or younger with more double-doubles this season is Luka Doncic (30 entering tonight’s games).

Atlanta Hawks guard, Vince Carter, gets a rousing standing ovation from basketball fans at the Barclays Center during a game against the Nets on Sunday

Make that two-in-a-row.

To no one’s surprise, the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Atlanta Hawks at the Barclays Center last evening. What might have surprised most is the score, 108-86. The 22-point victory marked Brooklyn’s largest win margin of the season; topping the 20-point win margin against the Philadelphia 76ers on December 15, 2019. With the win, the Nets improved to 18-20, while the Hawks fell to 8-32 on the season with last night’s loss. With the Nets' most recent losing skid, it could make one forget that this wasn’t the first time this season that Brooklyn held the lead wire-to-wire, with the largest margin being 39 points. The last time this season the Nets’ held the lead from start to finish was on November 22, 2019, against the Sacramento Kings.

How The Brooklyn Nets beat the Atlanta Hawks by the numbers:

Brooklyn led Atlanta 37-16 at the end of the first quarter, its 37 points marked the highest point total for the Nets in a first-quarter this season, while Atlanta’s 16 points marked the fewest points. At halftime, with the score 70-46, the Nets continued its lead, but the Hawks narrowed it to 24 points, and it was the Nets' largest halftime lead of the season. At the end of the third quarter, the Nets led the Hawks 92-66. Brooklyn also outrebounded Atlanta 62-33, with the Nets’ 62 rebounds marking a season-high. The Nets only eclipsed the Hawks by two assists, 25-23.

Coach Speak: Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson on the metrics that got away from the Nets

“Free throws, obviously,” said Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. “I’ll have to talk to our free-throw coach about that – we obviously have to do a better job making free throws. Turnovers bothered me. I will give Atlanta credit – I thought they put their
young guys out there and they were just trying to make every catch hard. We had a tough time getting open. They were denying us and causing a lot of problems – I give them a lot of credit. Listen, when guys deny you and are in your shorts, we have to do a better job of screening, (a) better job of getting open. We did that early and I thought we slipped later.”

One area that didn’t disappoint Coach Atkinson was Kyrie Irving’s return.

“Yeah, he was really efficient,” Coach Atkinson said about Kyrie Irving’s shooting after missing 26 games. “I liked that he didn’t force anything, and he just played like a pro. My fear was being out so long, he’d try to really force things. He was just in a perfect flow – had a nice demeanor and nice rhythm about him. Normally when you come back after a long time, your rhythm is off, you’re going too fast or too slow – you’re not in the right tempo. He was in the right tempo, right place and I thought defensively, (he) competed his tail off. The first group, I think 16 points in the first quarter, really made a mark defensively – I thought our defense was good again. Offense has a long way to go.”

Did Nets' players think that Kyrie Irving’s return gave the team an energetic emotional boost?

“It did,” said Brooklyn Nets center Jarrett Allen. “Seeing anybody come back from that (shoulder injury), just being able play basketball again – you take the Nets out of it, just having a friend being able to come back and play, then that gives everybody an extra boost to play hard.”

“…Having Caris (LeVert) and Kyrie (Irving) back, that brings us to a whole other level,” Allen continued. “We have more ball handlers, we have more people that can score without having an action for them, so it just brings us all together.”

The Brooklyn Nets’ Leading Scorers

Last night, Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 21 points (10-of-11 FG) with four rebounds, four assists, and a steal in 20 minutes. Irving’s .909 field goal percentage marked a career-high and the highest field goal percentage for a Net in a game this season. Taurean Prince recorded 14 points (5-of-8 FG, 4-of-6 3FG) with five boards and two assists in 21 minutes; Caris LeVert totaled 13 points, two rebounds, and a season-high-tying three steals in 22 minutes off the bench; DeAndre Jordan also added 13 points (5-of-7 FG), eight rebounds, and a block in 24 minutes off the bench; Joe Harris tallied 11 points and seven rebounds with a steal in 21 minutes, and; Jarrett Allen chipped in 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds in 24 minutes, notching his team-high 18th double-double of the season.

About Kyrie Irving’s performance

“I mean, he is who he is,” Brooklyn Nets forward Taurean Prince, said about Kyrie Irving’s return after missing 26 games. “He’s missing all the games, but he’s not missing any days in the gym. He’s probably there before us, more than half the time, so that just shows you the preparation he puts in for himself. It also shows you that he cares about the organization and the team to be ready and able to put on a performance like this on his game back.”

The Atlanta Hawks’ Leading Scorers

Cam Reddish led the Atlanta Hawks with 20 points and five steals in 29 minutes; DeAndre' Bembry recorded 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in 22 minutes, and; Alex Len chipped in 10 points.

It is worth mentioning that even though Atlanta Hawks guard Vince Carter, who at age 43-years-old, plans to retire at the end of this season, only scored eight points, three steals, and two rebounds, he received several “call-outs” from the crowd to play and several standing ovations.

“It’s always great to receive a standing ovation coming into or checking out of the game,” said Carter. “It’s always extra special when it’s a team I’ve played for before. To come back here — and some of the other stops I’ve played for — and receive a standing ovation one last time is great.”

Vince Carter played for the Brooklyn Nets from 2004-2009.

Coach Speak: Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce

“Not a lot of fun in that one,” said Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce. Brooklyn was good. They fed off of Kyrie (Irving) being back and had some great momentum in that first quarter. We were stuck in (the) sand. We were stuck in cement, trying to move and just late to everything with everybody.”

What’s Next for the Atlanta Hawks and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Atlanta Hawks will return home to host the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

As for the Brooklyn Nets, they will host the Utah Jazz at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, also on Tuesday, January 14, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

TIP-INS:

Caris LeVert has now scored in double figures off the bench in four straight games, which matches the longest streak of appearances in double figures off the bench for a Net this season.

Spencer Dinwiddie led the Brooklyn Nets in scoring with 26 points; Rodions Kurucs led the charge early and ended the game with 19 points for Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Nets’ downward slide has ended, at least for the moment. The Nets can now add a check in the win column with its 117-113 win over the Miami Heat last night. With the win over Miami, the Nets have snapped its seven-game losing streak and improved to 17-20, while the Heat fell to 27-11 on the season with its loss against the Nets.

How The Brooklyn Nets beat the Miami Heat by the numbers:

Sometimes the higher percentage doesn’t always tell the story. As in this case, in field goal percentage, the Miami Heat bested the Brooklyn Nets 51.8 percent (44-of-85) versus 48.4 percent (45-of-93). Behind the arc, Brooklyn secured 15 three-point shots compared to Miami’s seven. The Heat cruised by the Nets at the free-throw line 18-12.
The Brooklyn Nets also dished out 31 assists in comparison to the Miami Heat’s 26, and on the boards, the Nets outrebounded the Heat 51-40, including a 14-4 (+10) edge on the offensive glass.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Miami, at the end of the first quarter, the Miami Heat led the Brooklyn Nets 42-32, and at the half, the Heat led the Nets 69-57. But, in the third stanza, the Nets evened the score, ending the third 89-89.

Coach Speak: Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson on his team’s attitude being down headed into the fourth quarter:

“I thought the whole game we had great energy, great effort,” Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told the media postgame. “It just comes back to, the game will reward you when you play with that kind of grit and passion and energy. I thought that it was maybe one of the highest intensity games we’ve played all year. I think our backs were to the wall a little bit against an excellent team – real credit to the guys. I thought our defense was outstanding in that second half. Twenty points in the third and then 24 in the fourth and a lot of guys contributed. A lot of really good signs from our young players and guys off the bench.”

Speaking of young players coming off the bench, Caris LeVert exudes confidence in himself. When asked what hitting those two shots in the fourth quarter did for his confidence, LeVert responded: “My confidence never wavers, to be honest with you. Miss shots, make shots, it happens. I think I was like 1-for-7, so in my mind, next seven are going in, you know what I’m saying? So, it was good to see them go in, good to get the win. But like I said, it doesn’t really waver for me.”

Speaking of not wavering LeVert also shined a spotlight on the performance of another young Nets player who didn’t waver last night, Rodions Kurucs.

“Huge. He was huge for us. He started off the game huge – I think that gave us a big boost – and it forced them to wake up faster because Rodi hit three quick ones. We’ve been on him about shooting open three’s and I think he’s having great carryover from practice.”

The Brooklyn Nets’ Leading Scorers

Spencer Dinwiddie recorded his fifth double-double of the season tonight with 26 points and a career-high 14 assists to go along with four rebounds, two steals and a block in 35 minutes. Rodions Kurucs has found his way with his third start of the season, scoring a season-high 19 points with three rebounds in 23 minutes; Taurean Prince tallied 17 points with four rebounds, and four assists in 32 minutes; Jarrett Allen posted 11 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes, recording his team-high 17th double-double of the season; Caris LeVert, still working his way back from a thumb injury, registered 11 points, four assists, and three rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench, and; Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot added 10 points and three boards off the bench.

DeAndre Jordan, not a point-scoring leader in this game, pulled down 10 rebounds with eight points in 20 minutes off the bench.

Miami Heat Scoring Leaders

Jimmy Butler led the way in scoring for the Miami Heat, leading all scorers with 33 points, nine rebounds, and two assists in 36 minutes. Bam Adebayo registered 22 points, seven assists, and six rebounds in 33 minutes; Goran Dragic posted 17 points and five assists in 29 minutes, and; Kendrick Nunn chipped in 10 points in 23 minutes.

Coach Speak: Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra’s perspective on his team’s inability to get a win on the road against the Brooklyn Nets

“I’m going to keep it really short,” Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said to the media postgame. “Not a whole lot to say. The Brooklyn Nets deserved to win this game.
We got what we deserved. They came out and outcompeted us. Even when we were ahead and we were scoring the basketball, they were winning the physicality battles, clearly the rebounding, the loose balls and things of that nature. You just have to credit Brooklyn. We’re still searching for maturity on the road as a basketball team, and we didn’t take a step forward in that department tonight. We’re much better than that. It’s not an indictment on who we are as a basketball team. We’re a good basketball team. Our group knows that. This group has a great deal of confidence. I love that quality about our team because on the road it’s tough. It is tough leaguewide and we’re still developing this necessary maturity to be consistent on the road and we didn’t have that tonight.”

What’s Next for the Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Miami Heat will stay in town and head across the East River to play the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, January 12, 2020, at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets will stay at home and host the Atlanta Hawks at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn also on Sunday, January 12, 2020, but at 6:00 p.m. ET.

TIP-INS:

Spencer Dinwiddie became the first Net to reach 26 points, 14 assists, four boards, and just two turnovers in the same game since Sam Cassell on March 12, 1998, at Houston. Dinwiddie has scored 20+ points in 20 of his last 26 games and has scored 20+ points a single-season career-high 24 times (in 37 games).

DeAndre Jordan has posted 20 games of 10+ rebounds this season and has grabbed 10+ boards off the bench a league-leading 16 times this season.

Spencer Dinwiddie, who should be an NBA All-Star candidate this season, led all scorers with 24 points; Wilson Chandler makes his debut for Brooklyn Nets

In their first meeting since the 2019 NBA First Round Playoffs, the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers squared off at the Barclays Center yesterday evening, and; the Nets recaptured its magic and stopped its two-game losing streak by defeating a Joel Embiid-less 76ers, 109-89. In defeating the Sixers, the Nets improved to 14-12, while the 76ers fell to 20-8 on the season with their loss. Also, the Nets’ 20-point victory over the 76ers marked the team’s largest victory margin of the season, the previous high of 19-points was against the Sacrament Kings on November 22nd. Brooklyn led by as many as 26 points last night, which marked the Nets’ biggest lead in any game this season. The previous biggest lead was 22 points vs. Sacramento on November 22, 2019. Additionally, the Sixers’ 89 points last night marked the fewest allowed by the Nets in a game this season; the previous low was Charlotte’s 91 points on November 20, 2019.

How The Nets Beat the 76ers By the Numbers:

Last night, the Brooklyn Nets spaced Philadelphia 64-54 in points in the paint, posting 40 points in the paint in the first half, which was just two points shy of matching the Nets' largest points in the paint output in any half this season.

The Nets slid past the Sixers in fast break points, overwhelming the 76ers 23-8.

Rebounding? No problem. Brooklyn outrebounded Philadelphia 52-38. The Nets rebounding efforts are off to a good start; entering last night’s game, the Nets ranked fourth in the NBA with 47.9 rebounds per game.

Going into the final quarter, the Nets led the Sixers 83-66, giving the team something to talk about at least for a day. The 66 points marked the fewest points Brooklyn surrendered through three quarters this season, and the Nets’ 17-point advantage marked the Nets' biggest through three quarters this season. Not too shabby.

Taking a step back, Brooklyn also led Philadelphia 57-43 at the half on Sunday night. Philly’s 43 points marked the fewest Brooklyn has allowed in a first half this season, and the 14-point lead marked the Nets' third-largest halftime lead of the season.

All of these metrics were a good sign for the Brooklyn Nets’ ability to bounce back, as the team was coming off of a 110-102 road loss to the Toronto Raptors the night before. Had Joel Embiid been in the lineup for the Philadelphia 76ers, in all likelihood he would have affected the point-spread and the 76ers rebounding count, but the way the Nets played yesterday, in all likelihood, they would have still won this game.

Coach Speak: Kenny Atkinson on Bouncing Back from Losing to the Toronto Raptors The Night Before

“I felt it in our little walkthrough,” said Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. “I don’t think any of us were very pleased with our performance last night. Sometimes you just feel a tension. I felt like they were ready. One of our best defensive performances since I’ve been here. Collective – first group, second group – they’re a good offensive team, really top 10 in offensive efficiency, so, just excellent, excellent defensive effort.”

Coach Atkinson has been preaching defense to his players since he arrived in Brooklyn. He is a firm believer that good defense wins games and points it out every time his team misses the opportunity to turn up the defensive effort, particularly rebounding.

“Yeah, rebounding was one,” Atkinson said as he continued talking about the intangibles that come with a good defensive effort. “We’ve had problems with this team (Philadelphia) in the past in making them miss and not being able to corral a rebound. I thought rebounding was huge. Our general activity was good. I thought Wilson (Chandler) helped us. He helped by just having that big physical body of his. He guarded Ben (Simmons) in there for a while when TP (Taurean Prince) got in foul trouble. I thought that was a big stretch and (David) Nwaba gave us good minutes again defensively. But DeAndre (Jordan) I thought was really good, especially in the second half. But again, (an) excellent effort. I thought we shared the ball on offense, did a good job.”

Brooklyn Leading Scorers

Spencer Dinwiddie, who should be an NBA All-Star candidate this season, led all scorers with 24 points and a game-high six assists in 30 minutes. Dinwiddie, who has been starting since both Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert have been out with medical issues, is on a roll. Dinwiddie has recorded 20-plus points in four straight games, seven of his last eight games and 13 of his last 15 games (all starts). Dinwiddie has scored 20-plus points 17 times this season after doing so 18 times all of last season.

Joe Harris tallied 16 points (7-of-11 FG, 2-of-4 3FG) in 25 minutes; Garrett Temple recorded 13 points, and four assists in 29 minutes, and; DeAndre Jordan posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.

“Every game is different,” Spencer Dinwiddie responded to a reporter’s question regarding what was working defensively and how they can carry it over to their upcoming games. “I think the coaches did a great game plan for Philly. Obviously, their dynamics change when Joel Embiid is not on the floor, so you try to make them take tough twos. You focus in on Tobias (Harris), he’s their primary scorer. Obviously, Ben (Simmons) is a phenomenal playmaker, but you try to get under the screens, make his looks at the rim tough and then Al (Horford) likes to pop and shoot twos, and, you kind of (have to) live with some of those. That was kind of, I guess, the rough game plan.”

Philadelphia 76ers Leading Scorers

For the Philadelphia 76ers, Ben Simmons led his squad with 20 points, five rebounds, and three assists; Tobias Harris scored 17 points, six rebounds, and three assists; Josh Richardson contributed 11 points and four rebounds, and Al Horford chipped in 10 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.

Coach Speak: Brett Brown on Key Elements That Hurt the Philadelphia 76ers

“It’s just that the defensive side of things let us down,” responded Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown regarding his team’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets. “I think the statistical facts of what we shot from three and what we shot from the free-throw line shows our starting group had a rough night putting the ball in the hole and the accumulation of a few things equal a long night.”

What’s Next for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Philadelphia 76ers will return home to host the Miami Heat on Wednesday, December 18, 2019, at 7 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets will travel to New Orleans to play the Pelicans on Tuesday, December 17, at 8 p.m. ET, and then on to San Antonio to play the Spurs on Thursday, December 19, 2019, at 8:30 p.m. The Nets will then return home to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to host the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, December 21, 2019, at 6:00 p.m.

TIP-INS

Entering Sunday night’s game, DeAndre Jordan led the NBA in rebounds per game off the bench (9.1 in 19 games as a reserve).

Wilson Chandler made his Nets debut last night and totaled two points, seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in 19 minutes.

Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot posted a season-high eight points with a season-high five rebounds in a season-high 23 minutes off the bench last night against the 76ers.

Spencer Dinwiddie leads all players with 29 points in a loss against the Miami Heat

The Brooklyn Nets put up a great fight against the Miami Heat last night; starting the final quarter down by two points at 83-81 and then building a seven-point lead twice at 4:07 and then again 1:45, only to fall to the Heat 109-106. The Nets fell to 10-10 the loss, while the Heat improved to 14-5 with the victory.

The Brooklyn Nets By the Numbers

Brooklyn shot 44.0 percent (40-of-91 FG) from the field while limiting Miami to 38.9 percent shooting (37-of-95 FG). The Nets have now held opponents under 40.0 percent shooting in three games this season.

The Nets edged the Heat 24-16 in assists yesterday, led by Garrett Temple (five assists), Taurean Prince (five assists), and Spencer Dinwiddie (four assists).

Brooklyn led Miami 65-58 at halftime before being outscored 51-41 by the Heat in the second half. The Nets have done well with holding the lead at halftime this season. They have held a lead at halftime in 15 of their 20 games this season, including eight of 10 home contests.

The Closing Seconds

With just under 30 seconds in regulation, the Nets were leading by one, 106-105. Dinwiddie fouls Jimmy Butler and then Butler hits both free throws giving the Heat a one-point lead, 107-106. Dinwiddie gets possession of the ball misses a driving layup; Miami’s forward Justise Winslow gets the ball, Dinwiddie fouls him, Winslow knocks down his free throws and now Miami is up 109-106 with 11.3 seconds on the clock. With two seconds left on the clock, Dinwiddie goes for a 28-foot three-pointer and misses, and the Heat leaves the Barclays Center with a 109-106 win.

Coach Speak: Kenny Atkinson on how the Brooklyn Nets Lost

Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson believes his team missed several opportunities down the stretch to defeat the Miami Heat yesterday.

“We had opportunities, tons of opportunities, Coach Atkinson told the media postgame. They made plays, we didn’t. Just one of those see-saw games. Like I said, we had our opportunities.”

Coach Atkinson also didn’t like his team’s final possession.

“No, and they did a good job,” Atkinson responded to a reporter’s question about if he liked the final possession.

The answer was evident considering the Nets didn’t win, but in the rush of asking questions, many times the question gets asked in a way that the reporter didn't intend.

“We were obviously trying to get a switch and a weakness defender,” Atkinson continued. “I thought they had (a) good strategy to kind of deter that. It always comes down to do you want to search the mismatch, or do you want to keep the ball moving and stay within your offense. I thought we were seeking a mismatch – got it sometimes, sometimes we didn’t. I thought they did a good job trying to stay out of that mismatch. It was obvious who we were going at, and then when we did get Bam (Adebayo) out there at the 3-point line guarding Spencer (Dinwiddie), Spencer got downhill, we missed. Kind of that simple.”

Coach Speak: Erik Spoelstra on how critical the last two stops were for the Miami Heat

“We’ve been talking about it for 48 hours that we need to take a stand, particularly on the road,” said Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. “We find a game where we have to grind, even if it’s ugly, to show the mental toughness. Brooklyn is a tough team. They’re playing well. They had some momentum in the fourth quarter when Joe Harris hit those three’s and some triggers that forced us to overreact. That’s who Brooklyn is, they move you. We really had to step up and make two big-time stops and then Jimmy Butler was able to draw some fouls and that extended the game and gave us more life.”

“I think we played pretty well,” responded Brooklyn Nets forward Joe Harris. “It was obviously a competitive game from the start. Just, (at) the end of the game, a few possessions kind of got away from us. We just didn’t do as good as a job as they did to execute down the stretch.”

Brooklyn Nets Scoring Leaders

Spencer Dinwiddie led the Nets with a game-high 29 points (10-of-21 FG, 4-of-9 3FG, 5-of-5 FT) with six rebounds, four assists and a steal in 34 minutes. Joe Harris scored a season-high 25 points (eclipsing his previous season-high of 22 points, done twice previously) while shooting 9-of-16 from the field and 5-of-9 from distance; DeAndre Jordan tallied 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 24 minutes off the bench, and; David Nwaba chipped in a season-high-tying 10 points in 18 minutes off the bench.

Although Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince did not score more than 10 points, they both made some noise on the boards for the Brooklyn Nets. Allen pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds, while Prince tallied seven rebounds.

Miami Heat Scoring Leaders

Goran Dragic lifted the Miami Heat with a team-high 24 points, while adding six assists; Jimmy Butler scored 20 points and seven rebounds; Bam Adebayo registered 17 points and 16 rebounds; Kendrick Nunn recorded 11 points and three assists; Duncan Robinson added 10 points and 10 rebounds, and; Justise Winslow also chipped in 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists off the bench.

What's Next for the Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Miami Heat will travel to Toronto to face the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday, December 3, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The Brooklyn Nets will be on the road for the next two games, traveling to Atlanta to play the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, December 4, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. ET, then on to Charlotte to play the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, December 6, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. ET. The Brooklyn Nets will then travel home to play the Denver Nuggets at the Barclays Center on Sunday, December 8, 2019, at 3:00 p.m.

D’Angelo Russell led all Nets scorers with 28 points, Caris LeVert put up 24 points off the bench, but the loss is a cloud hanging over Nets’ head

Last night at the Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Nets met up with the Milwaukee Bucks, the best team in the NBA, by its 58-20 record; yes, the Bucks’ record is better than the Golden State Warriors’ record, which is 52-24.

The bad news is that the Nets lost to the Bucks 131-121. The good news for the moment is that the Nets are still holding on to the seventh playoff spot in the NBA Eastern Conference (EC). The three other teams that are also jockeying for position for the NBA’s sixth through eighth playoff spots in the EC, the Detroit Pistons (#6), Miami Heat (#8), and the Orlando Magic (#9), also lost last night.

The Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, and the Orlando Magic all have at least two formidable teams to play between now and April 10, 2019, the last day of the NBA regular season. And, by formidable, these teams have already clinched the 1 through 5 NBA Eastern Conference playoff spots. NBA Eastern Conference spots 6 through 8 are up for grabs between four teams or five, depending on how you feel about the Charlotte Hornets because technically, right now, sitting at 35-42, mathematically, the Hornets are not out of contention. Teams that the Hornets have on their schedule right now are the New Orleans Pelicans (32-46) a Western Conference team, and then EC teams, the Toronto Raptors (55-23), Detroit Pistons (39-38), Cleveland Cavaliers (21-57) and the Orlando Magic (38-40).

But, looking at the upcoming schedule for the teams that most people believe are in the race, Detroit has two strong teams to play, the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Miami’s schedule are the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Orlando Magic being in the ninth spot is currently on the outside looking in and seemingly has the easiest schedule. The Magic’s last three games are against the New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, and the Boston Celtics. Of this lot, only the Boston Celtics is a playoff team. However, that doesn’t mean that the Magic would only lose to the Boston Celtics. Not in the least, the Nets just beat the Celtics, who were without Kyrie Irving and Al Horford, on Saturday. These are all NBA teams and on any given night, there could be key players out, there could be an upset or the outcome could be predictable, which will make the next few days very exciting for some and not so exciting for others.

Focusing on the Nets, they have four more games on their schedule. The Nets play the Toronto Raptors tomorrow at the Barclays Center, a back-to-back on the road on Saturday and Sunday, against the Milwaukee Bucks again, and the Indiana Pacers and then they come back home to play the Miami Heat on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, the last day of the regular season.

Wednesday, April 10, could be the determining day between the Nets and the Miami Heat, as well as other teams. Or, it could be over before the Nets get home depending upon what they do from this point forward and what the other teams do. Clearly, this is not a good position to be in.

And, as Brooklyn Nets guard Caris LeVert, who scored 24 points, four rebounds and six assists, assessed last night’s game against the Bucks, the Nets have to be focused and dialed in from start to finish if they truly want to secure a playoff spot.

“I think we put ourselves in a big hole in that first quarter and it was tough fighting back, especially against a good team like that,” said LeVert. “They’re number one in the East for a reason. But we just have to learn from it. We played great basketball for like three-and-a-half quarters, so we have to learn from it and keep going.”

Spencer Dinwiddie leads all scorers with 28 points

The Cleveland Cavaliers put up a good fight last night but ultimately lost to the Brooklyn Nets 113-107. A good win for the Nets, as the team is now back over .500, improving their record to 34-33 overall, while the Cavaliers fell to 16-49 overall and 6-25 on the road with the loss. The Nets also improved its wins against Eastern Conference teams, which could be needed to sort out placement and ties if the Nets are still in the running for a playoff position at the end of the regular season.

After the NBA All-Star break and into the month of March, the playoffs are on everyone’s mind, especially, as with the Nets, if your team hasn’t been there in a few years. As much as Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson would like not to have the NBA playoffs front and center, at this point there is no escaping it, particularly when a reporter asks, what tonight’s win means for a playoff push.

“Yeah, I think there was a moment in the fourth quarter where we were desperate,” Coach Atkinson responded. “And even in the third, they had an eight-point lead, I think. I’m glad we kept our cool though because you know, maybe last year or two years ago we would lose that lead, or the lead would go to 16 or 18. The fact that we kept our cool, weathered the storm and came back was important. We won that game without playing great.”

Atkinson didn’t respond directly to the playoffs. But reading between the lines, if a team doesn’t know how to come back from a deficit, it probably won’t be in NBA playoff conversation at least from a positive perspective. In years past, the Nets would get into trouble in the third quarter even after leading in the first half. However, players have bought into Atkinson’s system and have learned to take back control when they are not leading coming out of the third quarter, as in this case, Cleveland led 85-80.

“I thought our defense was good all night,” Atkinson said starting to explain how the Nets were able to take control of the fourth quarter. “I think we did a pretty good job – they hit a few too many three’s – but for the most part, we defended. I think Caris (LeVert) had an important stretch there when we were struggling and couldn’t really score. He made some big plays, started to get downhill, and obviously, Spencer (Dinwiddie) too. Those two guys, I thought they turned it up. Our offense, we’re struggling. And we really needed those two guys tonight. I think they did a good job.”

“We needed stops,” Nets point guard D’Angelo Russell proffered. “Teams get going like that. Any team in the league can get going. It’s hard to stop the bleeding without getting stops so we knew we had to get stops.”

And, the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Larry Drew pretty much co-signed on how the Brooklyn Nets were able to take down his team.

“First of all, come out ready to play at the start of the game,” Drew said. “I believe we had eight turnovers in the first quarter, but we were able to overcome that. Playing on the road you just can’t play like that. Going down the stretch we just didn’t make the plays on either end. Brooklyn’s been playing well. You have to give credit where credit is due. They’ve really been getting after people. We allowed them to speed us up a little bit. When it came down to it down the stretch, we just didn’t make the plays. We had some bad shots. We had a couple of turnovers and we let it get away from us.”

At the end of the day, it was the Nets’ defense and keeping their composure under pressure.

Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie came off the bench and led all scorers with 28 points, four rebounds, and five assists. D'Angelo Russell registered 25 points, four rebounds, and five assists, and three steals; Jarrett Allen had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and he added three assists to his total; Caris LeVert accumulated 14 points and four rebounds off the bench; Rodions Kurucs chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds, and; Ed Davis crashed the boards with 12 rebounds.

The Nets’ bench outscored the Cavs’ bench 50-45 points. Brooklyn also edged the Cavs 7-3 (+4) in blocks, 58-38 (+20) in points in the paint and 22-14 (+8) in second-chance points.

Leading scorers for the Cavaliers were Kevin Love with 24 points, 16 rebounds, and four assists; David Nwaba added 22 points off the bench; Larry Nance Jr. registered 17 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and four steals; Jordan Clarkson came off the bench and accumulated 14 points and seven rebounds, and; Colin Sexton chipped in 12 points and five assists.

The Cavaliers will travel to Miami to take on the Heat on Friday, March 8, 2019, at 8:00 p.m. ET., and the Brooklyn Nets won’t see its next opponent, the Atlanta Hawks until Saturday, March 9, 2019, in Atlanta. The Nets will then travel back to Brooklyn and take on the Detroit Pistons on Monday, March 11, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. at the Barclays Center.

Nets forward DeMarre Carroll leads all scorers with 22 points; Dirk Nowitzki on “retirement tour”, receives a warm welcome from NBA fans at Barclays Center

Oh, what a night! The Brooklyn Nets took advantage of the Dallas Mavericks vulnerabilities at the Barclays Center on Monday night and came up with a 127-88 win for the home crowd. The Nets improved to 33-33 overall and 19-16 at Barclays Center with tonight’s win, while the Mavericks fell to 27-36 overall and 6-25 on the road with the loss.

So, what did it take to get the Brooklyn Nets back on track?

“It was really about the two things we emphasized before the game, defense and rebounding,” Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson responded. “I thought we defended much better tonight and we secured rebounds. We held them to one possession, and on the other side, we made shots. We were struggling to make shots before tonight, and it was nice to see the ball go through the basket. This helped our spirit. Good team win.”

“We drove the ball more tonight than in previous games, but I still think we can take it to another level,” Coach Atkinson continued. “We are still a little timid getting to the rim. I would love to see more rim attacks and free throw attempts. It was better tonight.”

The Nets snatched a win from the Mavericks right on time to stop a three-game losing streak in preparation for one more home game tomorrow against the Cleveland Cavaliers before hitting the road to play the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. Hopefully, Brooklyn can get two more wins under its belt before the team plays the Detroit Pistons on Monday at the Barclays Center and before hits the road to play six Western Conference teams and the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Nets need these wins against the Cavaliers and the Hawks because they need the wins and a win against these two non-playoff bound teams will help with the Nets standing in the Eastern Conference as things get tight in the coming weeks. They also need to have a recent memory of what it feels like to win and because the upcoming stretch starting with the Detroit Pistons on Monday is going to be a dogfight. After Detroit, the Brooklyn Nets face OKC Thunder, Jazz, Clippers, Kings, Lakers, Trail Blazers, and the 76ers.

Right now, the Nets are neck and neck in the Eastern Conference standings with the Pistons. The win against the Mavericks was good because a win is a win. But let’s face it, the game looked like a pro team playing against amateurs save a few players. And, Dirk Nowitzki really looked old. He was struggling to keep up and his numbers prove it, four points, four rebounds, and two assists. The conversation all season has been this may be Nowitzki's last season and no disrespect to Dirk, but by his performance last night, it should be. Dirk really looked old and the Nets took advantage, as they should.

“It was ugly from start to finish,” Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle bemoaned. “When you lose every quarter of an NBA game, you certainly haven’t done what you needed to do. It’s a very disappointing night.”

“I thought Brooklyn’s effort was phenomenally great and I know ours wasn’t up to it,” Carlisle continued. “The effort can’t be good if you lose by this number of points. We just simply have to do better.”

Doing better might start with limiting Nowitzki’s minutes. And, this is not to beat up on Nowitzki, as he has nobly put in 20 years in the NBA. He was a force to reckon with. However, this season, Nowitzki is averaging 5.5 points per game, while over the course of his career, Nowitzki averaged 20 PPG.

“…I was just fighting out there,” Nowitzki said. “I was just trying to get one down and get one in. In the first half, I had some great looks there – the trailing three and another one, a wide-open three from the corner. Frustrating night for me, but I kept on playing.”

In last night’s game, the Mavericks only had three scoring leaders. Dwight Powell led the Mavericks with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and six assists; Luka Doncic scored 16 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, and; Jalen Brown chipped in 10 points and three rebounds.

For the Nets, DeMarre Carroll came off the bench to lead all scorers with 22 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Rodions Kurucs registered 19 points and six rebounds; Caris LeVert accumulated 18 points, five rebounds, and five assists off the bench; Spencer Dinwiddie, also came off the bench and scored 16 points and five assists; D’Angelo Russell posted 13 points and 11 assists; Joe Harris chipped in 11 points, and; Ed Davis, who is not a prolific scorer, brought the heat around the rim with 10 rebounds.

And, with this win, D’Angelo Russell agrees that the Nets may have stumbled upon a winning formula.

“…With that second unit, you’ve got five starters coming off the bench. That team could start and be their own team and compete in this league, so I think that’s where we can get advantages. A lot of teams don’t have the personnel to do that so, it was a great move by coach,” Russell opined.

D’Angelo Russell leads Brooklyn Nets with 23 points; Vince Carter gets a video tribute, and; Jeremy Lin says he feels good

Last night was evidence that the Brooklyn Nets are working hard to turn a corner and a page on losing seasons of the recent past. Early on in last night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn dug itself into an 18-point hole at the 38.3-second mark in the first quarter and minus 19 points with a score of Hawks 46 and Nets 27 at the 9:02 mark in the second quarter. But, by the end of the first half, the Nets whittled the Hawks lead to six at 57-51. The reversal of fortunes for the Hawks occurred in the third quarter as the Nets ended the third stanza up by six points with the score 86-80. In the fourth is where the Nets kicked things into high gear leading by 20 points at the 2:38 mark on a Shabazz Napier running layup, and then ultimately defeating the Atlanta Hawks 116-100.

With this win, the Nets improved to 21-22 overall and 11-11 at Barclays Center, while the Hawks fell to 12-29 overall and 5-19 on the road with the loss. The Nets are now 13-4 in their last 17 games, which marks their best 17-game stretch since the 2013-14 season when the Nets had a 13-4 stretch from March 9, 2014, through April 8, 2014. Wow, that seems like eons ago. But hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen because right now, the Brooklyn Nets are now the sixth seed in the NBA's Eastern Conference, which would make them playoff bound. If the NBA playoffs were held today, the Nets would be playing the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Not my favorite choice, I think they would have a better chance emerging from the first round if they were to play the Philadelphia 76ers. Just saying.

Die-hard Nets fans know that 2014 was the last time the Brooklyn Nets were in the NBA Playoffs. They also know during the Nets’ “Dark Ages” starting with the 2014-15 NBA season through 2017-18, that if the Nets got behind by more than 10 points, most likely, it would be a wrap because they lacked the strategic basketball acumen to climb back to the top. In many cases, the individual talent was there but collectively, they just didn’t know how to mix all of the strategic elements to survive as winners. And, last night, it was if someone hit a switch and pulled them out of a losing trance. Perhaps, it’s the influence of the respected new veteran players, or, hungrier new younger players, their own growth and maturity as a team, listening to the coaches, or, just tired of losing, or, any combination of the listed reasons and more.

But somehow, last night, the Nets figured out a way to climb out of a 20-point deficit to win by 16 points.

“First of all, no easy games in the NBA, that’s for sure,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said about how his team turned around a losing game to a winning one. “They blitzed us in the first quarter. I think a lot of that was them and some of it was us. And 38 points in the first quarter, it’s like you’re playing with fire when you dig a hole like that. Then I think 19 points in the second quarter we gave up and then 43 points in the second half, so we turned our defense around. I think the zone helped us, just got them out of rhythm a little bit, wasn’t our main kind of slice, but it was helpful. I thought it got them out of rhythm a little bit, helped us.”

Nets guard Joe Harris also chimed in on how this comeback showed the maturity and growth of the team.

“Yeah, obviously not the start that we wanted,” Harris said. “We talk about it a lot, trying to be consistent over four quarters, and if you’re not, you have a blimp. Say you have a quarter like today, 38-23, a little sluggish, especially on the defensive end – that’s where the veteran leadership comes in. Guys like J.D. (Jared Dudley) and DeMarre (Carroll) and Ed (Davis), they’re the ones who are vocalizing. They’re talking about aspirations that we have for this team. We can’t have these lapses if we want to get where we’re trying to go. I think considering where we’ve been, where we’re at now says a lot about the team. A lot of it rests with those veteran guys.”

What’s really amazing is that the Brooklyn Nets have found their way to win even without Caris LeVert, who was scoring 18 points per game and seemed destined to be the team’s rising star before his injury on November 12, 2018, when the Nets were playing the Minnesota Timberwolves. So, right now, we are witnessing “next man up” in action.

Obviously, Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce was disappointed in the game’s outcome and he pinpoints where things went awry for his team.

“I think we came out with the momentum from last night’s game, Atlanta Hawks coach Pierce told reporters. “A lot of energy, a lot of ball movement, a lot of pace, attacking downhill, and we just ran out of gas in the second quarter is where it started. It looks like the second half, but it really started in the second quarter. I don’t think we had a turnover in the first quarter, I could be wrong, it may have been at the end. But to end up with 22 turnovers basically over three quarters and just being flat. Tough, tough.”

Nets starting point guard, D’Angelo Russell, scored a team-high 23 points (11-of-20 FG) with three rebounds, four assists, and one steal in 26 minutes. Joe Harris registered 16 points and eight rebounds, and; Rodions Kurucs and Jarrett Allen, also starters, each contributed 11 points, Allen added five rebounds, while Kurucs, a rookie, added four rebounds.

Brooklyn’s bench outscored the Hawks’ reserves 55-31, led by DeMarre Carroll’s 17 points and four rebounds; Spencer Dinwiddie added 16 points, five assists, four rebounds, and two steals, and; Shabazz Napier chipped in 11 points, and three rebounds, assists, and steals respectively.

Veteran player, Ed Davis, who Nets center Jarrett Allen credits with helping him to up his game, crashed the boards with 16 rebounds to go along with his eight points.

John Collins led the Atlanta Hawks and all scorers in points last night against the Brooklyn Nets with 30 points and 14 rebounds; Trae Young registered 17 points and seven assists, and; Kevin Huerter rounded out the Hawks starters in double digits with 14points, 10 rebounds, and three assists.

The Hawks’ bench players in double digits were Jeremy Lin with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals, and; Alex Len who contributed 10 points, and four assists.

This is Jeremy Lin’s second time at the Barclays Center since being traded from the Nets to the Atlanta Hawks. Lin was plagued with injuries the two seasons he was on the Nets roster. He spoke with reporters about how feels about his game right now.

“I feel good,” Lin told reporters. “I know tonight shots didn’t fall the way I wanted to. But for me, it’s not about makes or misses, it’s about the quality of the shot. I felt like I got really high-quality shots tonight and honestly, a ton of them felt great. That’s how it is sometimes. As many of those nights as I have, where they feel great and don’t fall, I’ll have many where they do. So I’m not too worried about it, I’m more just concerned with making sure I take great shots that I know I can hit and continuing to ride this momentum of trying to be aggressive, trying to make plays for my teammates as well, just trying to be disruptive on both ends of the floor.”

Veteran NBA player Vince Carter who was a Net from 2004 -2009, when the team was in New Jersey, received a video tribute to commemorate his 21st year in the NBA, as he had the night before in Toronto. No one really knows if this is Carter’s last season in the NBA, however, Carter was grateful.

“It’s a great trip – stressful sometimes, a lot of people to see,” Carter said about the reception from both teams. “But the appreciation, I’m very thankful for and I’ll never forget. The video – yes, it could be premature or not –they’re thinking about me and I’m very thankful.”

And, what’s up for the Atlanta Hawks’ immediate future, the Philadelphia 76ers. Yes, the Hawks will travel to Philadelphia to play the 76ers tomorrow, Friday, January 11, 2019, at 7:00 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets will have their own test as they travel to another country to face the Toronto Raptors, the team with the most wins in the NBA at 31, also on Friday, January 11, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Nets then play the Boston Celtics at home at the Barclays Center on Monday, January 14, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Nets capture the Hawks and score its 5th consecutive win; Jeremy Lin fans did not get the show they expected

When the Brooklyn Nets met up with the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday afternoon, this was a game that one went in thinking that the Nets would definitely get a “W.” The Nets were coming to the table with a four-game winning streak. The Hawks win-loss record was only 6-22 while the Nets were sitting at 12-18. The prevailing thought was for the Nets to lose to the Atlanta Hawks under these conditions would have been an absolute travesty. But this is the NBA, and anything can happen. Fortunately, the Nets turned up and kept it going to send the Hawks out of the Barclays Center with a 144-127 loss.

Although the Hawks are not sitting at the upper echelon of the NBA’s Eastern Conference, the attendance at the Barclays Center for this Sunday afternoon game was 13,955 slightly higher than the attendance of 13,232 for the Washington Wizards game on Friday night and the Wizards have a similar overall record as Brooklyn. The prevailing thought was that the attendance draw was Jeremy Lin. After all, it was Lin’s first return to Brooklyn since being traded to Atlanta, a trade which took a number of people by surprise including Lin. Unfortunately for Lin’s fans, he played just under 14 minutes scoring a dismal six points and one assist. Certainly not the performance Lin’s fans wanted to see and most of all, not one that Lin wanted to happen for himself. Many reporters thought this would be Lin’s revenge game, but apparently, Lin is still trying to find his rhythm following his catastrophic injury from last season, he scored two points in the first quarter and four in the third, two free-throws and a driving layup. Lin did not play at all in the second quarter.

Despite Lin’s troubles, the Hawks did try to make a run for it in the second quarter and came within two points, 66-64 at 1:34, which possibly sent shivers through Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson.

“I was worried at halftime,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told the media postgame. “I said this game is too loose; it’s too up and down. They play fast and we knew we had to start that third quarter with an edge and I felt we did. We got stops. Our defense wasn’t great overall, obviously, but I thought we got stops and I thought D’Angelo (Russell) did a great job on both sides of the ball. Defensively he did a great job in pick-and-roll and then, obviously, offensively he was making shots.”

In thinking about D’Angelo Russell’s aggressiveness at the start of quarters, Atkinson said, “he was just spry. Spry; he was aggressive, he was energetic. Offensively he was aggressive. But I thought defensively he was locked in. When D’Angelo is like that we take it to another level. He was excellent tonight.”

Meanwhile, Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce reflected on how his team responded to him challenging them at the end of first quarter.

“The response has always been good for our guys,” Pierce stated. “I give them credit there. On the season we’ve been a plus in the second quarter. It’s the first six minutes and the third quarter. That’s the issue. It’s the urgency to come out and take a little pride in what we’re doing to start games. We put ourselves in a hole and come back to within six points at halftime. Our defense all night was suspect.”

The Hawks leading scorers were John Collins with 29 points and eight rebounds; Dewayne Dedmon registered 24 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists; Kent Bazemore tallied 20 points, seven assists, and three rebounds, and Trae Young contributed 13 points and 10 assists.

On the contrary, Brooklyn had eight players in double digits including all starters. D’Angelo Russell led all scorers with 32 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and two steals. Other starters in double-digits were Rondae Hollis-Jefferson with 18 points, four rebounds, and three assists; Joe Harris tallied 16 points and six assists; both Rodions Kurucs and Jarrett Allen scored 11 points. Kurucs added six rebounds and four assists, while Allen put up four rebounds and two blocked shots.

The Nets’ double-digit scorers in the second unit were Jared Dudley with 16 points and three steals; both Spencer Dinwiddie and DeMarre Carroll scored 15 points each, and Dinwiddie added five assists and three rebounds to his scoring total.

Looking ahead, the Hawks play the Washington Wizards in Atlanta on Tuesday, December 18, 2018.

Meanwhile, the Nets are scheduled to play the Los Angeles Lakers at home also on Tuesday, December 18, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.