The Nets started the New Year on the right foot after a clutch 98-95 win during a tough matchup against the Orlando Magic
It was a great way for Brooklyn to start 2018, after ending the year on a tough 1-4 road trip which included a gut wrenching 3-point loss against the Eastern Conference leading Boston Celtics the night before.
From the opening quarter it looked like another lackluster performance by the Nets (14-23), as they allowed 27 first quarter points on 50 percent shooting by Orlando(12-26). However, despite the hot start by the Magic, Brooklyn came out in the second quarter with a different level of effort defensively and never looked back.
“We weren’t great offensively, but we did it with our defense,” said Coach Kenny Atkinson after the game.
Coming into the game, there was heavy focus on containing Magic forward Aaron Gordon, who dominated Brooklyn, during their October 24, matchup, where he dropped 41-points.
On Monday night it was a different story.
“He’s a tough cover, the way they’ve got him coming off screens he’s like a two-guard at the four,” said Atkinson of Gordon who ended the night with an ineffective 20 points and 12 rebounds. “We made it a point of emphasis and Rondae locked in.”
While Gordon may have been the Nets focal point on defense, other key players for Orlando struggled against Brooklyn, specifically Evan Fournier who shot an abysmal 4-15 on 26.7 percent from the field. It wasn’t just that the sharpshooting guard had a bad shooting night, but that Allen Crabbe put handcuffs on Fournier through four quarters.
Crabbe who finished with 15 points, eight rebounds was brilliant defensively, adding a career-high 3 blocks—one of which helped seal the win for the Nets with 7.3 left in the game. It’s was an encouraging performance for the fourth year guard who has been pegged as a defensive liability.
“People have questioned my defense, so coming over here in this new role there are a lot of expectations now, so I don’t want to be a liability, especially on film the next day when coach points out the individual things that went wrong that night,” said Crabbe. “I can impact the game in other ways.”
Overall Crabbe and the Nets held the Orlando Magic to 36.5 percent from the field
The inability for Brooklyn to close out games has plagued the Nets for most of the 2017-18 season, but against Orlando the Nets proved that they’re fully capable of playing smart and aggressive in pressure situations.
With less than two minutes left in the game the The Nets went on a 8-2 run erasing a 93-90 deficit, showing a tremendous amount of discipline.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (13 points, seven rebounds) hit two free throws to cut the lead within one with 1:31 left. Then second year guard Caris LeVert (15 points, eight assists, five rebounds) gave the Nets a 95-93 after converting a three-point play where he was fouled by center Bismack Biyombo. Crabbe sealed the deal with a pair of free throws with 18 second to go, giving the nets the 98-95 victory.
“It wasn’t going our way and our guys never got rattled, they just kept at it, trusting our principles, trusting our habits and we executed offensively and executed defensively,” said Atkinson who was proud of the well collaborative effort by his players.
Atkinson might be happy with the Nets defensive performance last night, but the win against Orlando also comes at the hands of rookie big-man Jarrett Allen, who had a career high 16 points on 7-8 shooting (87 percent), adding six rebounds and two blocks to his stat line. Allen looks to have settled into his position as Brooklyn’s back-up center, and as the season continues, expect the rookie to start seeing even more minutes.
“I’ve been in a good groove and things are starting to slow down for me,” said Allen, who was drafted 22nd overall in the 2017 NBA Draft. “When I got the ball I used to think I don’t want to mess up cause coach is going to get mad at me, but now if I mess up I just gotta do it right on the next play.”
Monday nights victory now gives the Nets a 9-2 record at the Barclays Center against the Orlando Magic, making it their most against any opponent since moving to Brooklyn in the 2012-13 season.
