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The Brooklyn Nets have defeated the Denver Nuggets 119-108. Here are five things to take away from this game -
They say that a wounded tiger tends to fight harder and smarter. A cornered animal is far more dangerous than one found in neutral settings. Same can be true for NBA teams. Remember how the Celtics ripped up a 7 game win streak after Rajon Rondo was declared out for the season? Or the Spurs grinding ahead, despite being without Ginobili and Duncan? Same held true today for the Brooklyn Nets, as they pulled this one out in spite of missing their elite point guard in Deron Williams. “When you have one of your key guys out, I think it motivates guys to really step up and play a little harder. Guys that haven’t played as much tend to come in and play big minutes and be successful.” said Nets guard Joe Johnson. Come to think of it, the wounded tiger theory does not always hold true, the Nuggets being the example. They were missing Andre Iguodala (right cervical strain) and Danilo Gallinari (sinus infection) but failed to win this one.
The tiny guard of the Brooklyn Nets, CJ Watson stepped up big for them. It wasn’t since November 25, 2010 that he had scored so many points. Watson scored 25 points and had a season high 6 assists along with a career high 5 three pointers. In the absence of Deron Williams, the point guard had to take the responsibility. And Watson delivered.
Kris Humphries had a season high 14 points on 5 of 8 shooting with his 4 rebounds, all in 20 minutes of action. The Brooklyn Nets also set a season high for scoring in a quarter with 39 in the fourth, to close this game down the stretch. The Nuggets were on a four game road trip and their fatigue in the final quarter was evident with the points they gave up.
The Nuggets shot 12 of 17. No, not from the free throw line; they shot 70.6% from three point range. As a team, they shot 53.2% from the field, going 42 of 79. Funnily enough, they shot 12 of 22 from the free throw line for 54.5% shooting. Had they made their free throws, they may have been able to win this. The Nets shot very well from the field too, going 41 of 75 for 54.7% from the field and 16 of 27 for 59.3% from downtown. They did miss nine of their free throws, finishing with 21 of 30 from the free throw line.
Three of the Nets starters scored over 23 points and had 74 points combined. Those are Big Three numbers. Brook Lopez, the all star, went 9 of 15 from the field for 23 points with his 8 rebounds. Joe Johnson shot 10 of 19 for 26 points and had 9 assists. CJ Watson added 25 points on 8 of 12 shooting.
For the Nuggets, they got double figure scoring from five players. George Karl was right in saying that his team is made up of Top 40 players in the league, sans the Top 10. Wilson Chandler scored 11 points on 5 of 13 shooting with 7 rebounds. Corey Brewer had 12 points on 5 of 11 shooting. Ty Lawson scored 26 points on 8 of 11 shooting with 9 assists. JaVale McGee scored 14 on 5 of 7 shooting and Jordan Hamilton scored 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting in 20 minutes. The Nuggets had such great all round production in spite of missing their two key players in Iguodala and Gallinari.
