The Brooklyn Nets let this game slip away from them late. Brooklyn led by ten after one and only trailed by one after three. The 14-point loss drops the Nets to 3-5 while it improves the Knicks to 3-4. The Brooklyn Nets remain winless on the road so far this season.
Brook Lopez has been on an offensive tear of late as he scored 21 points on 8/12 shooting. Lopez was only 1/5 from deep, but he has developed into a legitimate deep threat for this team. Justin Hamilton, off of the bench, matched Lopez’s total of 21 points. Hamilton made 5/7 threes and 8/13 from the floor as a whole.
Brooklyn shot 33 long balls tonight, which has become an issue. I have lost count how many games they have taken over 30, but I believe they only shot less than 30 maybe twice all year. Tonight they made 11/33 for 33.3%. From the floor as a whole, Brooklyn shot 41.3% compared to New York’s 47.8%.
Kristaps Porzingis killed Brooklyn in the fourth quarter with several three-pointers and an And1. New York outscored Brooklyn by 13 in the final frame, putting Brooklyn to bed. Brooklyn’s backcourt tonight struggled in the absence of a true point guard commanding the floor. Isaiah Whitehead was out due to being in concussion protocol and Greivis Vasquez got waived yesterday. Add in Jeremy Lin‘s absence, and you are left with Yogi Ferrell and Randy Foye.
Ferrell scored five points on 2/3 shooting, hitting his only three, with three assists and a steal in 14 minutes. Foye scored 5 points in 15 minutes. Ferrell looked calm and composed under the New York lights at the Garden in his first NBA action.
Grading the Players
Brook Lopez, Justin Hamilton and Yogi Ferrell all receive the A grade tonight. Lopez put up 21 points along with three blocks. I was going to give him a B due to his lack of rebounding, but three blocks is just what Brooklyn needs from Lopez. This team lacks defense, so, anytime it is given, one should praise it. Justin Hamilton took the scorers seat on the bench tonight as he drained five threes en route to a 21 point performance. Yogi Ferrell, as mentioned above, looked poised and in control in his first NBA action, at Madison Square Garden nonetheless. If Ferrell can play the way we saw glimpses of tonight, Brooklyn will hardly notice Whitehead is gone. Hell, they may even prefer Yogi.
Sean Kilpatrick and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are both getting C’s. Kilpatrick got the start tonight with Whitehead being absent and went 2/9 for 7 points. Kilpatrick did have four rebounds and five assists to almost make up for the poor shooting performance. Maybe this is a sign that Kilpatrick is a better sixth man, rejuvenating the team, than a starter. RHJ only put up eight points on 1/4 shooting. His bright spot was the 6/6 free-throws. Back-to-back nights with 6 free-throws made is a sign of good things. It helps get him back in the shooting flow.
Bojan Bogdanovic gets a D tonight. This is Bojan’s second bad performance in a row and there really is not much going his way right now. These next two days off, going to the west, should hopefully help him get back on track. But, if he keeps playing like the past two games, who knows how long he will continue to be a starter for this team.
Brooklyn, at 3-5 takes off to Phoenix to take on the Suns Saturday night. This Suns match-up is the beginning of a four game west coast swing. New York travels up to Boston to take on the Celtics on Friday night fora divisional battle.