WASHINGTON — There are boos, and there are boos, and according to Kris Humphries, the ones he heard last night were “a walk in the park” compared to those he heard last week at Madison Square Garden. Nevertheless, every time Humphries touched the ball last night as the Nets opened their season with a 90-84 victory over the Wizards, he was booed.
“I don’t know why,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “I’m trying to figure out, what did he do? I’m serious. Maybe because I don’t follow reality TV, I don’t know all the ins and outs of it but it’s pretty hilarious to me. I don’t know if they even know why they’re booing him.”
The crowd was booing Humphries for all the wrong reasons last night. They should have booed him because he was killing their team.
Humphries, who only re-joined the Nets on Wednesday, looked as if he never missed a beat from his breakout 2010-11 campaign, when he averaged a double-double. Despite the boos, Humphries finished with 21 points, 16 rebounds and a ton and a half of defensive grit as the Nets overcame a start that would warrant felony charges in most of the continental United States.
“Obviously my primary focus is to play defense and rebound. Offensively, playing with the guards we have things just happen for you,” said Humphries, who added the booing is “motivation. “People are yelling at you. You know you have to go and perform, go and play hard. They want to have a reason to say something, so you have to try to not give them that reason. It makes it a hostile environment and it’s kind of fun to play in that environment.”
Humphries led the Nets to a massive 58-38 rebound edge and Deron Williams owned the second half, scoring 15 of his 23 points and recording seven of his eight assists after halftime. To Johnson, there was so much good: “defensive effort … rebounding … and Deron basically closing the game, either with a scoring play or an assist.”
Even if none of that looked possible early.
For nearly 17 minutes, the Nets were holding their own call-back casting for “The Walking Dead.” With 7:21 left in the second quarter, they trailed by 21 points. Turnovers exceeded field goals. Dwight Howard was minutes away from calling Magic management and asking, “Where do I sign?”
But then Sundiata Gaines gave the Nets a huge burst of energy from the bench, Humphries rebounded and defended and Williams looked every bit the way everyone expects him to look.
With the Nets drowning in their own swill, Gaines supplied the essence of energy in a span of 4:39. He had four points, three assists, a steal and ball pressure. The Nets, down 20 when he entered, were within eight in the second quarter when he exited.
“I look at myself as a do-everything type player,” Gaines said. “I want to contribute in all fields to help the team win. For me, it starts with my defense.”
And there were other unsung heroes. Damion James, offensively awful in the first half, finished with great defense and 14 rebounds. Johan Petro, starting for the injured Brook Lopez, added 11 points.
With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, the defense took over. The Nets held the Wizards without a point for an impressive 5:38.
And after that, it was mostly Nets, a lot of it by Williams, who hit one killer 3-pointer, with 4:01 left, to give the Nets an 80-76 cushion. He then assisted on the backbreaker, a triple by Anthony Morrow (16 points, 4-of-13 shooting) with 1:37 to go that seemingly buried the Wizards in an 87-79 ditch.
The Wizards got back within three, but John Wall (13 points,6 assists) threw the ball away with 17.9 seconds left on the clock.