NEW ORLEANS — After the Nets completed a come-from-behind victory over the Mavericks Sunday night in Dallas, Paul Pierce stood in the locker room and declared his team can't take any game for granted over these final few weeks of the regular season.
"This is just one, though," Pierce said. "We've struggled in back-to-backs. We can't be overly excited about one win. We have to start being a little more selfish now.
"We can't have high emotions one night, and then an emotional letdown the next night. We have to come with the same attitude, night-in and night-out, because that's what it's going to take in the playoffs."
But then the Nets went out Monday against an injury-depleted Pelicans team and did exactly what Pierce said they couldn't do, as they gave away a 22-point second-half lead before eventually falling in overtime 109-104 before a crowd of 14,599 at Smoothie King Center.
With the loss, the Nets saw their four-game winning streak come to an end, and they fell two games behind both the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors and fourth-place Bulls in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Nets were in control most of the game, as they opened up a double-digit lead through most of the first half and then took their biggest lead after a pair of free throws by Joe Johnson made the score 66-44 with 10:02 to go in the third quarter.
But from there, the undermanned Pelicans — missing starters Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson, along with reserve big man Jason Smith due to injuries — suddenly stormed back into the game, as they scored 17 of the next 18 points to make the score 67-61 with 5:01 remaining in the third. New Orleans outscored the Nets 29-10 in the period, capped off by a Tyreke Evans four-point play with a second left. That improbably sent the Pelicans into the fourth trailing 76-73.
Things didn't change in the fourth, either, even after the Nets appeared to get the game back under control with a 3-pointer from Deron Williams (23 points, seven rebounds, five assists) and a three-point play from Mirza Teletovic put them up 84-75 with 9:37 to play.
But the Pelicans stormed back again. They went on a 16-5 run and took their first lead since the first quarter on a drive by Evans (33 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists) that made the score 91-89 with 3:25 remaining.
Then, after Johnson tied the game with a short jumper, Anthony Morrow gave the Pelicans back the lead when he grabbed an offensive rebound of his own miss and laid it in to make it 93-91 New Orleans, with 1:59 to play.
Johnson then tied the game again with a pair of free throws on the next possession, only to have Morrow drill a 3-pointer to give the Pelicans a 96-93 lead with 1:29 left. Johnson had a chance to tie the game once again, but missed an open 3-pointer, and Evans converted a pair of free throws to make it a 98-93 Pelicans lead.
The Nets had one more comeback in them, as Pierce's 3-pointer was well short, but landed right in the hands of Mason Plumlee for a slam dunk to cut the deficit to 98-95 with 1:04 to play. Then, after a terrible Pelicans possession ended in an awful jumper by Al-Farouq Aminu, Pierce — who led the Nets with 24 points — hit a 3-pointer off a pass from Johnson to tie the game with 24.1 seconds to play in regulation.
New Orleans had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but Morrow's long 2-point jumper from the wing was long, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra session, the Pelicans jumped out to a 106-100 lead with 2:37 remaining after back-to-back 3-pointers from Brian Roberts and Morrow. But after a Shaun Livingston layup pulled the Nets to within 106-102 with 2:25 to play, the teams exchanged back-to-back empty possessions, leaving the ball with the Pelicans with 1:11 remaining.
Morrow finally ended the game with a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 54 seconds left that gave the Pelicans a 109-102 lead and left the Nets with a devastating loss.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Nets’ four-game win streak ends with OT defeat
Dengan url
http://bahayaprostat.blogspot.com/2014/03/netsa-four-game-win-streak-ends-with-ot.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Nets’ four-game win streak ends with OT defeat
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Nets’ four-game win streak ends with OT defeat
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar