Brooklyn Nets vs. Portland Trailblazers 11:20:16 ScoreThe Brooklyn Nets (4-9) got beat down by the Portland Trailblazers (8-7) 129-109 Sunday afternoon. Brooklyn was keeping it close for a while, and then the third quarter woes struck again. Nets fans should have known a loss was coming when, on the very first basket of the game, Damian Lillard hit a circus layup whilst falling to the ground.
Brooklyn did listen to one of my keys to the game, though. Lillard only scored 18 points. Unfortunately, Evan Turner and C.J. McCollum took over the rest of his scoring. McCollum scored 33 points and Turner scored 19 off of the bench.
Leading the Nets was none other than Brook Lopez with 21 points on 8/14 shooting and 2/4 from range. Sean Kilpatrick struggled mightily yet again. Kilpatrick scored a measly three points on 1/9 shooting. His struggles are a large part of Brooklyn’s struggles.
The Nets as a team shot 39.8% from the floor including 10/35 from three while allowing the Blazers to shoot an astonishing 57.6% from the field including 15/36 from long range. Anytime there is that discrepancy, you are in trouble.
Brooklyn still has not resisted the temptation to shoot less than 30 threes in a game. I can count on one hand it seems how many games the Nets have not shot at least thirty long-balls. It is also clear Brooklyn needs Jeremy Lin back. Yogi Ferrell and Isaiah Whitehead are promising young guns, but, as of now, they are not cutting it.
Brooklyn also got out-rebounded 57-46 in this game. Points in the paint, though actually favored Brooklyn. Brooklyn needs to work on its rebounding as Booker and Lopez only combined for ten rebounds on the night. Really need better glass work from those two.
Grading the Players
Only two players get A’s today and they are Brook Lopez and Bojan Bogdanovic. Brook scored 21 points and snagged six rebounds and he started off 7/7 from the field. It is clear he is doing everything he can to help this team win. Bogdanovic has cooled off as of late but he still notched 15 points on 6/11 shooting in this contest. I will take that efficiency from him any day.
Isaiah Whitehead and Yogi Ferrell both get D’s in this game. Whitehead did score 11 points, but did it on 2/10 shooting, including 1/4 from long range. Also, his two assists are way too low. Ferrell did not score in this game and only notched a single assist. That kind of point guard production will not ever cut it.
Sean Kilpatrick gets an F for his terrible performance. He is supposed to be Brooklyn’s main man off of the bench. Having three points and to keep shooting so terribly is more of a hindrance than anything. 1/9 shooting is absolutely terrible and this slump does not seem to be ending. Hopefully these next two days off he can hit the gym and fix his issues.
Brooklyn, thankfully, has another two days off to rest up and try and work themselves back into early-season form. The Boston Celtics come to town Wednesday night to have a Thanksgiving-eve battle. That should be a good one considering how the first game of the season ended. The Blazers take the A train for a battle with the Knicks tomorrow evening.