Gameday Dish: Chicago vs. Brooklyn
April 4 by Leave a Comment
The City of Broad Shoulders comes to the Borough of Big Attitudes tonight in a battle of two playoff-bound teams.
The host Nets at 43-31 currently occupy the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference, two games ahead of 5th seed Atlanta and 2.5 ahead of 6th seed Chicago.
Both of these squads head into tonight’s 48 with significant players banged up. Starting Brooklyn off-guard Joe Johnson has missed the last five games with a combo of left heel / right quad issues, and starting SF Gerald Wallace missed last night’s game with a sore foot. Both players will be game time decisions.
PG Derrick Rose, C Joakim Noah, SG Richard Hamilton and G Marco Belinelli are already sidelined with various injuries, and coach Tom Thibodeau may have lost Taj Gibson for a while as well in Tuesday’s loss at Washington. Carlos Boozer led the Bulls in the 90-86 D.C. defeat, putting up 19 points, 12 boards and 5 assists.
Tonight’s game marks the return of the Nets to Brooklyn after an eight-game road trip in which they went 5-3, including a 113-95 shellacking of Cleveland last night that set a franchise record for road wins.
Second-year SG Marshon Brooks led coach P.J. Carlesimo’s guys with a career-high 27 points on 12 of 16 shooting to go along with 7 dimes and 4 boards. Deron Williams chipped in with 24 points and 8 assists.
This will be the fourth and final time these two teams play in the regular season. So far, the home team has come away victorious in the previous three games including the Bulls’ win in Chi-town on March 2nd.
In that game, Boozer and Noah combined for 41 points, 18 boards, 8 assists, 7 steals and 5 blocks to help lead the Bulls to a 96-85 final.
Chicago has just 9 games left in the regular season, and a W tonight would prove huge in their attempt to take over the 4th seed and secure home court in the 1st round of the playoffs.
Starting this evening Brooklyn has 5 home games and 3 away games left and with the 3rd seed Pacers a healthy 4.5 games in front of them, it’s all about defending their current position.
Tune in to TNT at 7PM ET to watch the Bulls and Nets contend for postseason positioning.
Gameday Dish: Nets vs. Jazz
March 30 by Leave a Comment
The 37-36 Utah Jazz have recently surged into the 8th spot in the Western Conference. Tonight they welcome the Brooklyn Nets and PG Deron Williams to The Beehive State.
Williams will surely be greeted with plenty of boos from the boisterous Jazz crowd. The 3X All-Star, who was drafted by Utah with the 3rd overall pick in 2005, will make his second return to Salt Lake City after departing via a turbulent trade on February 23rd, 2011.
At 42-30 Brooklyn occupies the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference. With ten games remaining, the Nets have secured a playoff spot for the first time in six seasons.
Tonight’s 48 will be game number 7 of Brooklyn’s grueling 8-game road trip. They are 4-2 after getting annihilated in Denver last night, 109-87.
With starting SG Joe Johnson still out with a quad issue, the Nets starters went a combined 16 of 47 from the field in the loss.
PF Reggie Evans had the best night of any of coach P.J. Carlesimo’s guys, going for 15 points and 16 boards.
The Jazz played last night in Portland where they came away with just their 11th road victory of the season, 105-95. PG Mo Williams led the way with 28 points, 5 dimes and 5 boards in just 29 minutes. This was Utah’s first win away from home after dropping their previous 9 as visitors.
The Jazz and Nets last battled in Brooklyn on December 18th. The Nets raced out to a 13-point halftime lead, but finished the night on the losing end of a 92-90 count. Al Jefferson had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, while Joe Johnson led the Nets with 21 points.
The Nets are 11-8 in the second half of back-to-back games this season, and Utah is a sturdy 26-9 at home.
Both teams need a W tonight. Utah is barely clinging to the last playoff spot in the West. And Brooklyn must keep winning in order to secure home court for the first round of the postseason. Currently, the Nets are 2 games ahead of Chicago and 2.5 ahead of Atlanta for the 4th seed in the East.
See who’s got the most gas, drive and determination left in their tank heading down the home stretch when Nets vs. Jazz tips off at 9PM ET on YES.
Gameday: Nets vs. Clippers
March 23 by Leave a Comment
The Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers have both toiled for years as the proverbial younger brothers in the respective shadows of their metropolitan foes, the Knicks and Lakers.
The 2012-2013 season has seen the emergence of these two franchises from their long-held backseat roles. Tonight’s 48 in SoCal will mark the second and final time these two squads will do battle in the regular season.
In their first year in Brooklyn, the Nets have compiled a 40-28 record and have clinched a playoff berth after missing the postseason for four years straight. They are currently in the 4th spot in the Eastern Conference, only a game and a half behind the suddenly slumping Knicks.
The 47-22 Clips also sit in the 4th spot of their conference and have clinched a playoff berth as well. They are a whopping 11.5 games better than their Staples co-tenants.
Brooklyn has won six of their last eight contests, including four road victories. On Wednesday night coach P.J. Carlesimo’s guys destroyed the Mavericks 113-96 in Big D.
Brook Lopez scored a season-high 38 points to go along with 11 boards and 2 blocks. Deron Williams went for 31 points and 6 dimes in front of his hometown crowd. In addition, super-motor Reggie Evans hauled down 22 rebounds.
The Clippers are 5-4 in the month of March and have yet to record back-to-back wins. After a disappointing 116-101 loss at Sacramento on Tuesday, coach Vinny Del Negro’s team bounced back with an easy 101-72 win against Philadelphia in Los Angeles.
As is so often the case, PG Chris Paul led the team with 19 points, 9 dimes, 6 boards and 5 steals. This was especially important because backup 1-guard Eric Bledsoe missed his 5th straight game with a calf injury and super veteran Chauncey Billups sat out with a hamstring issue. Both players are listed as questionable for tonight’s matchup.
When these two sides played in Brooklyn on November 23rd, the Nets topped the Clips 86-76. The game was tied going into the fourth quarter when the Nets pulled away, limiting LA to 13 points in the final 12 minutes. Lopez led the team with 26 points and 3 blocks.
Tune in to the YES Network at 10:30 PM ET to see if the Nets can improve on their 18-14 road record and take the season series from the Clippers.
