Earning their first victory in almost two weeks, the Brooklyn Nets pounded the Manhattan Knicks last night at Barclays Center, 110-104.
The Nets’ monster center Brook Lopez led the borough’s squad with 20 points and played sensational defense throughout the night against his twin brother Robin. The big fella certainly felt the buzz from the sellout crowd, which was loaded with Manhattan-centric Knick fans, making it feel like road game for Brooklyn, who was actually wearing their black road jerseys.
The other difference maker was Brooklynite Thaddeus Young, who went 9 or 18 from the floor with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Defensively, it was Young who helped clamp down on Kristops Porzingis, holding the Knicks phenom and possible rookie of the year to just 19 points.
What really helped the Nets was that they avoided a poor start, which has become almost a given in every one of their games this year. Not this time. Instead the Nets got off to a good start, winning the first quarter and then enjoying a halftime lead.
This much needed win certainly stops the bleeding since the Nets had a five game losing streak coming into this contest. Winning the Big Apple battle and getting 7th win at home, the Nets earned some redemption for last month’s blowout loss to the Knicks at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden.
This was the first win of the Tony Brown era. Serving as an interim head coach, Brown earned the first victory of his young career. In his first challenge on Monday night, hey saw his team get blown out at home against the San Antonio Spurs. While many think that Brown has no shot at leading the way for the Nets in future, it is important for this team to start make progress as they suffer through one of the worst seasons in franchise history.
This has been a whirlwind week in Brooklyn and it affects everybody involved with this team. From the towel boy to CEO Brett Yormark, certainly everybody has to at least have a sense of relief that change is a good thing. As this organization heads in a different direction, it is important that they take their time to make the right decision for who is going to lead this team in the near future.
The Nets host the Blazers at Barclays Center Friday night, and then they have two road games in Atlanta and Toronto before coming back to Kings County for a matchup with Cleveland, and LeBron James.
Aside from Portland, these are all absolute playoff teams and it is going to be hard for the Nets to compete. As the losses pile up it certainly helps their draft stock but it is crucial that the Brooklyn Nets try to restore some type of credibility. Otherwise, their fan base could very well likely jump right back to the Knicks, the team that Brooklyn beat on Wednesday night.
