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Jac Manuell

Brooklyn Nets vs Houston Rockets Notes and Observations 11/3/18

Inspired by Justin’s article on the Detroit game on Halloween, I’ve decided to adopt/steal his idea and provide my thoughts as the Houston Rockets game unfolded. Things started well, then turned real sour in the 2nd half as Brooklyn suffered their sixth loss of the season.

1st Quarter:

  • Paul and Cappella are a problem 
  • It took less than 2 mins for the Nets to have a turnover 
  • LeVert’s finishing in the paint has grown exponentially since last year 
  • Russell’s game looks so much better when he’s attacking the rim and not settling for the floater 
  • Guarding the Paul/Capella pick and roll is a major problem  
  • D’Lo needs a quality big like Allen and/or rim runners to be a more effective passer 
  • LeVert’s footwork and composure is a key reason for his rapid improvement

  • Oh, and his handle is freaking gorgeous 
  • He started the game with 12 points on 5/5 shooting in 8 mins
  • Davis’ offensive rebounding is absolute elite
  • Attacking the rim is paying dividends
  • Crabbe’s energy on both ends is good, the shot just isn’t falling 
  • The team only took four shots from the perimeter, making one, though still shot 71.4% from the field (15/21)

2nd Quarter

  • Dinwiddie may overdribble at times but he uses it to gain momentum to penetrate the defense 
  • *cough* Spencer may be a Sixth Man of the Year contender.

  • Davis and Dinwiddie were awesome in leading the 2nd unit before Russell and Allen were reinserted 
  • Allen dunk!

  • Followed up with a block!
  • Dudley is good for a sneaky-highlight assist a game 
  • Joe Harris is hot!
  • Houston’s 13-4 run to end the quarter cut the lead to 5
  • Nets maintained their hot shooting finishing 64% from the field for the half 
  • LeVert and DLo have been nice:

3rd Quarter

  • Cold start for Brooklyn as they go 1/5 in the first few minutes
  • Eric Gordon starting to heat up offensively
  • Dudley hits his first bucket, a three Melo immediately responds
  • Then hits another to give the Rockets back the lead
  • Nets having trouble penetrating the paint as they did in the first half
  • Napier with 2 threes to get the Nets back within 2
  • Free throws (7/14) are killing Brooklyn 
  • Rondae’s herky-jerky moves earn him a chance at an and 1 play

  • Make that 3 threes in the quarter for Shabazz 
  • Paul hits a dagger three to end the 3rd to extend their lead back to 5
  • The starters lacked energy overall in the quarter and the bench stepped up to keep the Nets within striking distance

4th Quarter

  • Harris just makes the right play no matter the circumstance
  • Chris Paul is unstoppable 
  • Harris again drives and dishes to Davis
  • Napier pushes the pace and gets to the line.
  • Nets look so much better when they get into their sets early and move in transition
  • The Nets wouldn’t be in half of their close games this season without the production of Davis and Napier off the bench
  • Why did I have to tweet this? 
  • Halfway through the final, Russell still hasn’t seen any court time
  • Dudley just guarded Paul very capable, nice 
  • Allen’s looked tentative for a lot of this one Nets go to the hack Cappella to send him to the line with 4 minutes to go. He hits one, and airballs the other Brooklyn does the same thing again, this time Capella hits both
  • Nets have missed 7 consecutive field goals
  • The offense has been absolutely putrid for both teams in the stretch
  • Harris three cuts it to 4 with 40 seconds left in the contest 
  • Clear travel from Gordon not called by the officials

It was therapeutic to be able to spew my thoughts throughout the game. There were plenty of problems that mainly came in the 2nd half. The defensive communication was lacking too often while Coach Atkinson’s decision to keep Russell on the bench in the final quarter was puzzling, especially given Crabbe wasn’t providing much offensively.

LeVert was awesome again, as was my boy Joey Buckets but the positives were few and far between on yet another disappointing outing for the Nets.