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Brooklyn Nets Highlights: Nets Tripped Up By Shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans

By Kenneth Teape

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Brooklyn Nets Highlights: The Nets’ Two-Game Losing Streak Is Snapped By New Orleans Pelicans Behind Unexpected Career-High

The Brooklyn Nets are in the midst of a lengthy road trip because of the circus in the Barclay’s Center, and tonight they played the sixth of eight games. Tonight they were against the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans, and suffered a tough loss. The Nets, like every team in the NBA, are not without injuries, but if they were to play without the fire power the Pelicans are missing right now they wouldn’t be in many games.

Tonight the Nets looked to be catching a break. To have a successful road trip, sometimes you need a little luck and tonight the Nets figured they were getting theirs; tonight this Pelicans team was without budding superstar and All-Star Anthony Davis, Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday. That trio makes up three of the four top scorers for the Pelicans this season, so they were missing a lot of firepower.

They didn’t miss a beat without a large chunk of their rotation, as all eight of the Pelicans to play tonight scored at least eight points. Tonight Quincy Pondexter led the way for the Pelicans, pouring in a career-high 25 points on 9-13 overall and 4-8 from three-point land. He also made all three of his free throw attempts.

Tyreke Evans and Omer Asik each registered double-doubles, as Evans finished with 15 points and 11 assists, while Asik finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

That all points to the Nets deficiencies defensively tonight, as they didn’t bring the necessary effort or get the stops they needed. They allowed the Pelicans to shoot 51.4 percent overall from the field, and offered very little resistance on the perimeter as well, as the Pelicans connected on 44 percent of their three-point attempts.

On the contrary, the Nets shot poorly from the field, making only 42.4 percent overall and 33 percent from beyond the arc. Head coach Lionel Hollins went with a tight eight-man rotation tonight as well, and Mason Plumlee was the only player to score at least eight points, finishing with a goose egg in the scoring column.

Tonight Joe Johnson led the way scoring for the nights, putting up 21 points. He also had a double-double in the game, leading the team with 10 rebounds.

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The bench trio for the Nets tonight was dominant, as Brook Lopez, Jarrett Jack and the newly acquired Thaddeus Young all scored 19, 15 and 15 points respectively. Lopez continues to be a force off the bench for the Nets, while Young has provided a strong scoring punch as well as energy to the second unit. Jack made his return to the lineup after a two game absence because of a bothersome hamstring and didn’t miss a beat.

After putting together two very strong games against the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers, Deron Williams came back down to earth tonight. Was it the return of Jack to the lineup, or the increase in difficult of the opposing team that made for a poor game for Williams? Probably a little bit of both, as Williams is no longer the dominant point guard the Nets thought they were getting from the Utah Jazz.

Next: What Lessons Did We Learn From the Nets First Half?

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