The Nets played Atlanta this past Tuesday night, a surprise team so far this season, with lots of talent. They suffered a defeat of 116-101. Much of the night was dominated by Hawk’s high-flyer Josh Smith. He went bonkers from the Small forward position, scoring a season high 34 points along with 7 assists while going 14-16 from the field, including 2/2 from three-point territory. Along with Smith, reigning sixth-man of the year Jamal Crawford, came of the bench to score 26, and was causing the Net’s defense to scatter and constantly double team him as almost everything out of his hands was finding the bottom of the net, not to mention, he had 6 assists as well. Al Horford showed great young promise for the Hawks as he posted a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds, seeing his dominant play after one game of a move to the Power Forward position, the Hawks may want him there as a regular. Smith Horford and Crawford were all in double figures by the start of the second half. Crawford even had his own 6-0 run in the first quarter. The Hawks showed they have many other options besides the injured $119 million dollar man, Joe Johnson.
The Net’s had more than their fair share of problems in this one and I know Avery Johnson will be all over them for some of the things they did. Lets start with some positives. Lopez came out very strong with 11 points in the first quarter and was showing some of that needed aggression against a good defensive center, Jason Collins, a former Net. Lopez put Collins in foul trouble early using his baseline moves and running the floor nicely on a breakaway. Lopez would keep his team in there for the first quarter of action, behind by a point at 27-26 Hawks. Of course, every Nets fan is relieved to see Devin Harris back on the court for the squad. Although he had a below average game in his return against the Celtics (3/8 from the field, 7 points, 3 assists) Devin did his best to run the floor against these Hawks. He did not take enough shots, in my opinion, as he was only 2-8 from the field, but made up for it at the line getting 13 of his 18 points from the charity stripe. Devin also racked up the dimes in this one with 13 assists. The starting back court of Harris and Morrow didn’t have much going at the start of the game, but the back court I saw to have the most flow was the combination of Harris and Farmar. Famar obviously did a phenomenal job filling in while Devin was side-lined and has continued to play while radiating confidence. Harris would beat his man, thus forcing help defense, which in turn gave Farmar open looks and space to execute high percentage shots. Farmar would end the night with 16 points off the bench. Another exciting improvement I observed was that of Damion James. He is showing a nice progression and is portraying himself as a player that has a great understanding of the game and will to win. He contributed with some nice shooting, driving in hard to the basket, energy, and hustle. The Rookie had 10 points with 6 rebounds. Besides these strengths, the Net’s offense suffered in many areas. For example, at the free throw line, normally a category in which New Jersey fairs as one of the best in the league at 78% overall, where 28/37 on Tuesday.
There was also very little ball movement on the offensive end for New Jersey, therefore not many players got hot or were involved at all. Since there was very little ball movement the Nets had trouble penetrating the hawks defense, which was forcing the ball out of the hands on the Net’s play makers and scorer’s. As a result the Nets were forced into many one and done offensive possessions and settled for many low-percentage looks. The stat sheet provides proof as the Nets shot it at 48% while the Hawks shot it at a more than respectable 60%. The Nets were forced into many turnovers due to the aggressiveness on the Hawks on defense and overall made bad passing decisions as they had 13. The execution for this offense, something Avery prides himself on stressing, was slow and had no flow for the Majority of the game. As for the defensive end New Jersey did not make crucial stops or many stops at all for that matter. Their transition defense was not there as not only did they allow their share of fast-break points, but gave up way too many and one’s due to the fact that when they fouled it was not hard enough. When a team fouls, please fouls so the basket doesn’t count and he has to earn his points. This New Jersey team looked like statues on defense almost not going up to challenge Atlanta’s shots giving them tons of space and open looks. The Nets had a lot of trouble finding any constants in this game and hopefully they will take a good look at the tape.
The Nets do have something to look forward to though, as there young forward Terrence Williams will return after a 3-game stint in the D-league for the game against Kidd, Dirk and the Mav’s. Terrence was sent down for his poor efforts on the court as well as with showing up to practice on time. Johnson sent him down as punishment, while many saw this as making a mockery out of the D-league, Williams heard the message loud and clear as he posted monster numbers for the Springfield Armor in just three games he averaged 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Williams in his time with the Nets has showed he can be another threat to run the floor, set up an offense and penetrate a defense. At least the Nets have something positive to work off of after losing their last 5 straight and their last 7 on the road.