It only took two games, but now Brooklyn knows what it feels like to be Nets fans.
More than three decades of disappointment bled into the borough last night as the Nets blew a 22-point lead to the Timberwolves and dropped their first game of the season, 107-96, at a bewildered Barclays Center.
The Timberwolves, who trailed by 11 heading into the fourth quarter, went on a 32-10 run over the final 12 minutes and scored the game’s final 11 points, sending newfound fans scurrying toward the exits before the final buzzer sounded.
“That was just a terrific win,” Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman said. “Their guys shot it so well for three quarters, and we just talked about getting tougher down the stretch. The game was easy for them. We had to start making it tougher. We played with a real edge in the fourth quarter.”
The Nets jumped out to the huge lead behind 55.4 percent shooting from the field and 13 3-pointers on 65 percent shooting through three quarters. Timberwolves guard J.J. Barea didn’t know if Brooklyn’s barrage would ever end, but when it did, he said he could feel a shift in the energy on the floor.
“We felt it [change], we were energized,” Barea said. “We did a good job of chiseling away. When the game got close, it was going to get tighter for them on offense and it got a little harder for them.Finally they started missing a couple shots and then we got it going a little on offense.”
Having lost handily the night before in Toronto, the undermanned Timberwolves, sans Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, looked equally helpless for the majority of the game.
Getting little contribution for three quarters outside of Nikola Pekovic (21 points, seven rebounds) and Andrei Kirilenko (16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, four blocks), it was Adelman’s insertion of a small lineup, mostly from the second unit, in the fourth quarter that turned an obvious conclusion into chaos.
The quicker Timberwolves lineup was able to switch on the pick-and-rolls that had been destroying their defense, causing the Nets to shoot 4-for-19 in the fourth quarter, while turning misses into transition points, shooting 12-of-25 in the final quarter.
“They were picking us apart, and we really didn’t have any answers with our regular lineup,” Adelman said. “We decided to go small and we thought it would be hard for them to guard us.”
Adding to the stunning ending was who helped orchestrate it — Russian rookie guard Alexey Shved. After going scoreless over the first three quarters, the 23-year-old scored the go-ahead basket with 2:35 remaining and hit two 3-pointers in the final quarter, finishing with 10 points.
“I know he can play like that,” Andrei Kirilenko said. “I’ve seen him playing for the Russian team. I’m not surprised that he can make those shots in crunch time. That’s his bonus. He has those nerves to make that shot in the tough moment when everybody is kind of shaky.”