After a shaky start the Nets made a huge comeback and then coasted to a 116-100 win over the visiting Atlanta Hawks at Barclays Center last night.
The Hawks (12-29), who were on the second night of back-to-back games, jumped out to a 19 point lead after scoring 38 first quarter points against the Nets (21-22), while shooting 50 percent from the field with second year forward John Collins dominating from the opening whistle, scoring 12 of his 30 points.
However, while the Nets may have come out flat, they proved once again why they are in playoff contention as they dominated in the second half, beating one of the few eastern conference teams completely out of the postseason conversation.
“We have to win games like these,” said Nets center Jarrett Allen, who scored 11 points and grabbed only five rebounds while adding three ferocious blocks. “This is a game you have to get, especially if you want to be playing after April 15.”
Allen is right.
The Hawks are the only team during their current stretch that will not make the playoffs this season, and while the Nets are sitting at the sixth seed, it is very easy to slide right out of contention in the Eastern Conference.
Not to mention they’ve already suffered a loss to the Boston Celtics on Monday, and face the east leading Toronto Raptors on Friday at Scotiabank Arena.
Still the Nets showed their growth and against the Hawks, despite a rough first half, they came out hot in third quarter.
It started on a Rodions Kurucs steal turned dunk after a bad pass from rookie Trae Young. And continued through the quarter.
While they began to shoot the ball well, it was defense that fueled the Nets comeback with blocks from Jared Dudley and Allen, who also added a steal that led to a D’Angelo Russell reverse layup, giving the Nets a 63-61 lead with 9:26 left in the third quarter.
The Nets never looked back letting their defense dominate the Hawks who scored only 43 points on 35 percent shooting in the entire second half.
“I think the zone helped us. It just got them out of rhythm a little bit, wasn’t our main kind of slice, but it was helpful,” said Coach Kenny Atkinson after the game. “I thought we really locked down and showed a lot of maturity.”
Russell, who finished the game with 23 points, maybe showed the most maturity.
Against Young, who despite scoring 17 points with seven assists, Russell used his size, strength and on-ball pressuring the rookie point guard was never able to find a rhythm.
But the most impressive and easily the most important part about the Nets comeback were the contributions of the bench.
Sixth-man Spencer Dinwiddie scored 17 points, 5 assists with 2 steals while Shabazz Napier added 11 points with 3 steals. DeMarre Carroll, who missed Monday nights game against the Celtics also poured in 17 points while shooting 50 percent from the field.
The points were coming from all over, but it was veteran forward Ed Davis who gave the bench that extra spark, grabbing 16 rebounds against the Hawks.
“It’s huge. I think it’s a difference maker from like I said, from last season,” said Atkinson. “Between Shabazz (Napier) and Ed (Davis) and DeMarre (Carroll), we’ve got a bench that we can count on.”
It’s something the Nets are banking on if they’re going to make any kind of run to stay in playoff contention or in the playoffs.
“We’ve got experience, so big plus. I think it’s a big reason why we’ve improved,” continued Atkinson. “We’ve got a good group. I hate repeating this but I don’t think we win that game last year or the year before.”
The Nets currently sit in the sixth seed of the playoff race with Miami and Charlotte sitting behind them at the seventh and eighth seed. It could be their first trip to the playoffs since the 2014-15 season.
