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Lopez and Johnson Help Brooklyn Top Dismal Knicks at Garden

December 3, 2014 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Brook Lopez and Kevin Garnett combined to grab 21 of the Nets’ 49 rebounds Tuesday night against the dismal Knicks. AP photos
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Brook Lopez hit the boards and played some quality interior defense to at least temporarily sooth his at-times critical head coach. 

Joe Johnson broke out of his recent scoring drought, dropping in 19 points after intermission on 7-of-10 shooting.

The Nets actually out-rebounded an opponent, 49-40, and dominated the offensive glass, 21-13.

Overall, there was plenty to feel optimistic about following the Nets’ latest win Tuesday night.

Except for the fact that it came against one of the NBA’s most dysfunctional teams in the New York Knicks.

Lopez finished with 23 points on 10-of-20 shooting, ripped down eight rebounds and blocked three shots as Brooklyn improved to 2-0 this season against its flailing East River rival with a 98-93 victory before a crowd of 19,812 at Madison Square Garden. 

“This was a big building block,’’ said Lionel Hollins after his squad held off a fourth-quarter charge by the Knicks, who had a potential tying 3-pointer by Brooklyn-born Carmelo Anthony rim out in the closing seconds following coach Derek Fisher’s failed bid for a timeout.

“Coach has been stressing rebounding,” noted Nets forward Kevin Garnett after pulling in 13 boards. “It’s been one of the things that obviously we’ve been working on, been making an emphasis for the bigs to rebound better. … Coach has been on Brook so hard, but he was a monster tonight.” 

Johnson, who made just 1-of-7 shots in Sunday afternoon’s 102-84 loss to Chicago at the Barclays Center, had just three points on 0-of-4 shooting at the half Tuesday night before lighting it up following the break.

The Nets’ lone All-Star from a season ago also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out six assists and picked up three steals in his best all-around performance of the campaign.

“I thought early on Brook was dominating, just having his way, getting what he wanted out there,” Nets guard Deron Williams said after finishing with 19 points and five assists. “And [in the] second half, I think they paid a little more attention to [Lopez] and other things were open, and Joe just asserted himself.”

With the win, the Nets improved to 7-9 on the young season, but have managed just three victories since a solid 4-2 start.

One of those wins came on Nov. 21 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were without reigning league MVP Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, and another was against the 0-17 Philadelphia 76ers last Wednesday night. 

Off to the worst start in franchise history at 4-15, the Knicks perfectly fit the mold of the type of opponent Brooklyn can handle: a bad one. 

In fact, the Nets have yet to post a victory against a team with a winning record thus far this season, a humbling statistic that they were looking forward to erasing Wednesday night against the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in Downtown Brooklyn.

Nevertheless, a win is a win, and the Nets need to pick up as many as possible if they hope to return to the playoffs for a third straight year since their arrival in our fair borough. 

“Every win for us is a confidence builder,” Williams said. 

But Brooklyn isn’t likely to meet any teams as bad as the Knicks or Sixers when and if they get there.

 

Nothing But Net: The Nets had lost nine in a row and 21 of their last 23 meetings with the Spurs entering Wednesday’s game. … Brooklyn also beat New York, 110-99, at Barclays Center on Nov. 7. … After the world champions leave town, the Nets will host Atlanta on Friday night and LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday in a game that will be attended by Prince William and Princess Kate.Garnett moved into sole possession of sixth place on the all-time games played list with 1,392, snapping a deadlock with his former coach, Jason Kidd. … This was the tightest Knicks-Nets game since Kidd was still playing during the 2012-13 season. The previous five encounters were decided by an average of just over 20 points.

 

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