It doesn't look like the Nets will be changing their starting lineup anytime soon.
With Deron Williams and Brook Lopez remaining in reserve roles, the Nets once again got a strong performance from their new-look starting five and came away with a 107-99 victory over the Kings inside Barclays Center on Monday night.
Since the Nets went to a starting lineup of Jarrett Jack, Sergey Karasev, Joe Johnson, Kevin Garnett and Mason Plumlee five games ago, they have won four of the five — albeit the one loss Saturday's stinker at home against the Pacers — and the starting group undeniably has formed some strong chemistry.
That was on display late in the third quarter Monday when, after Kevin Garnett came up with a steal and improbably led a fast break, he completed a give-and-go with Karasev. Garnett did his best Plumlee impersonation, throwing down a huge slam dunk off an alley-oop from Karasev to send both the Nets' bench and the crowd to their feet as the Nets went on to claim a relatively easy win.
The success of the starting group, however, has turned two of the team's three most expensive players, Deron Williams and Brook Lopez, into bench players. And since Jack and Plumlee replaced them in the starting lineup because of injuries — a strained right calf for Williams, a strained lower back for Lopez — both have more than made their case to remain starters, even after the two stars got healthy.
Plumlee led the Nets with 22 points Monday, including going to the free-throw line a career-high 16 times, making 10. Jack finished with 16 points, 12 in the first half.
That's not to say Williams and Lopez had no impact, as both played well in spurts. Williams finished with six points and three assists with no turnovers in 16 minutes, while Lopez had 11 points and six rebounds in 12 minutes.
But when the game got close in the fourth quarter, it was a pair of Mirza Teletovic 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, then a pair of Plumlee baskets that pushed the Nets' lead to 103-92 with 2:54 left, while Williams and Lopez watched from the bench.
While Williams came off the bench, Nets general manager Billy King and his Kings counterpart, Pete D'Alessandro, were on hand to watch the game, not long after the teams discussed a trade proposal that would send Williams to Sacramento for a combination of players. That package, at the very least, would include point guard Darren Collison and forwards Jason Thompson and Derrick Williams.
Talks broke down, at least in part, because the Nets were adamantly opposed to moving Plumlee in any deal, which isn't going to change, while the Nets also were interested in acquiring rookie guard Nik Stauskas.
Despite the fact there isn't much happening at the moment, one person who sounded quite happy with the possibility of such a trade happening was Kings interim coach Tyrone Corbin. Corbin was an assistant under Jerry Sloan when Williams was in Utah, and was elevated to head coach when Sloan resigned. He coached Williams for a couple of weeks before Williams was traded to the Nets.
"You know, during the course of the season, you go through some peaks and valleys," Corbin said. "He's still a quality player in this league. I thought he was having a better year than last year during the early part of this year, and now he's banged up a little bit.
"But I still love the player, man. He'll work his way back into it and he'll be the player he's been in this league. I don't think we can afford to relax on him at all. He's a great player and can turn it on at any time."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Deron and Brook take backseat as new-look Nets roll again
Dengan url
http://bahayaprostat.blogspot.com/2014/12/deron-and-brook-take-backseat-as-new.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Deron and Brook take backseat as new-look Nets roll again
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Deron and Brook take backseat as new-look Nets roll again
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar