Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov arrived at his team’s home opener Friday night in Brooklyn armed with a new catch-phrase: “Aiming for Amazing.”
It’s unclear whether the Russian billionaire was aware “Amazing” is already associated in these parts with a certain baseball team in Queens that hasn’t been so amazing in recent years.
Nonetheless, you get the idea Prokhorov expects big things from a team that is costing him a bundle in salaries. On paper, the Nets have a roster that gives Prokhorov reason to expect to be amazed. The Nets began their home opener against the Heat at Barclays Center by trotting out a starting five that sounded like an All-Star team: Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Brook Lopez. It wasn’t a Big Three. It was a Big Five.
And it was a banner night. The Nets held on for a 101-100 victory, ending a 13-game losing streak to the Heat. Allen Iverson, Geno Smith and Magic Johnson were among those at Barclays Center, along with various hip-hop artists and boxers. Before the game, Williams told the crowd, “Let’s turn it up,” and that’s exactly what the Nets did.
They were certainly amazing at times, using their depth and defense to outlast LeBron James (26 points) and the two-time defending champions.
Behind the starting five was a bench headed by Andray Blatche, Shaun Livingston, Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko that did plenty of damage. It made for one of those total team efforts that produced a glorious opener no matter how close the finish.
“It was thrilling,” Lopez said. “Everybody contributed.”
If we learned anything about the Nets, it is that they are deep. Scary deep. Forget the season-opening loss at Cleveland on Wednesday night. Beating the Heat offered glimpses of how good and how deep the Nets could be.
We’ve seen in baseball that a roster of high-priced talent doesn’t always equate to success. Personalities and individual skills may not mesh. Egos might clash. Individual goals supersede team goals. Sometimes a team with too many leaders has no leaders. But the Nets don’t appear to have that problem. They may have figured out in the fourth quarter there is strength in numbers.
Johnson did his part, draining a pair of 3’s at key moments in the fourth quarter, while Williams orchestrated an offense that always seemed to find an open man against an aggressive Heat defense.
Lopez did his damage early, scoring seven of his 13 points in the first quarter, while Garnett offered tons of energy and passion though he missed two key shots late that kept the game close. The bench was terrific, combining for 36 points and 17 rebounds.
But it was Pierce who stepped forward to remind everyone of his Hall-of-Fame credentials. Pierce admitted to being passive early against the Heat, when he scored just two points in the first half. But he responded with 11 points in the third quarter when the Nets were searching for offense. He finished with 19, as did Johnson.
“He’s a beautiful painting I get to watch every night,” Garnett said of Pierce. “It’s good to see him have games like this. He carried us for a stretch.”
Said Pierce: “I just wanted to be aggressive, and I think it opened up things for everybody. I can’t sit back and wait for things to happen.”
Most championship teams have a definitive leader: Magic for the Lakers, Larry Bird for the Celtics and Michael Jordan for the Bulls. That role is not so clear for the Nets, and that might be a blessing.
“We just have to pick our spots,” Johnson said. “We have a lot of guys who can close. If the opportunity is there, make a play. It’s as simple as that.”
Forget about the Big Three. The Nets have the Big Five — and more. Now that’s amazing.