PHILADELPHIA — The question came, strictly as a joke, to the Nets’ Reggie Evans, the ultimate party animal on the backboards.
So what happened in the second quarter, Mr. Evans — take one look at his 6-foot-8, 245-pound bulk and you will call him “Mister,” too — you missed two rebounds?
“Crazy that you said that, because Coach [P.J. Carlesimo] said the same thing. When the game was over, he said, ‘You missed two damn rebounds,’” Evans said Tuesday night after the Nets ripped the Sixers, 109-89.
Evans didn’t miss much else, besides those two rebounds — and the joke. In just 27 minutes, Evans hauled in a career-high 23 rebounds, bettering his personal best by one. He was four shy of the Nets’ all-time mark of 27 by Buck Williams in 1987, and Evans became the first Net with 16 in a half since Jayson Williams in 1997. Through three quarters, Evans outrebounded the entire Sixers team, 23-22. He sat the entire fourth quarter. Slacker.
“Reggie was ridiculous on the boards,” Carlesimo said.
None disagreed.
“Crazy, 23 in 27 minutes?” Brook Lopez said.
“Reggie was huge. He was getting every board that was out there to get, he was cleaning up, and that helps us a lot,” Deron Williams said.
And none got in his way.
“Ain’t much you can do. He’s boarding and we pretty much let him board and as long as he’s getting all of them, we’re cool with that,” Gerald Wallace said with a laugh. “He was great.”
And not just in rebounding. Forget 1-of-5 shooting and two points. Evans helped the Nets in an unorthodox matchup. The Sixers went small with a slender 6-foot-8 Thaddeus Young at power forward. The Nets opted for the bulk of Evans over the versatility of Wallace, and “Reggie made it work,” Carlesimo said.
Evans also ignited the Nets’ running game as he consistently helped limit Philadelphia to one shot. Evans had six offensive rebounds. The entire Sixers roster had seven.
“They like shooting a lot of jumpers,” said Evans, noting the Sixers, at present, are not a tough “down low” team. “You just have to play everybody different.”
And try to grab every rebound. Or at least a career high. And Evans knew he had a personal best.
“When you’re in a zone, you’re just in a zone,” said Evans, who played in Philly for two years — after the game, fans chanted his name. “You’re not going to get all of them, but you’re going to get the majority of them.
“I didn’t have no choice but to know [about the career high],” Evans added. “You’ve got the other team telling you what you got, you got teammates telling you what you got. You don’t have no choice but to know what you have.”