Here are my three thoughts from the Nets’ 96-80 loss to the Raptors in Toronto Saturday night:
1. The Nets had plenty of things working against them Saturday night. Their game against the Raptors was their fifth in seven nights and their seventh game in 11 nights. They were coming off two close wins over strong opponents – Golden State on Wednesday and Miami on Friday – with the game against the Heat extending to double overtime and several players being forced to play over 40 minutes (and Shaun Livingston played over 50), and the Nets didn’t get into their hotel in Toronto until about 4 a.m. Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, the Raptors – who have been playing quite well lately – hadn’t played since Wednesday, giving them two full days of rest and a full night of sleep in their own beds, heading into Saturday’s game. That’s why it was the definition of a “schedule loss” for the Nets. That’s something Nets fans should know all about, given that the games against Golden State and Miami were schedule losses for the Warriors and Heat, respectively. Golden State was coming to the end of a seven-game East Coast road trip and had played the night before in Milwaukee, while Miami was also coming to the end of a busy stretch of play themselves, and had played the night before against the Knicks.
The Nets, on the other hand, had been off the night before each of those games, and were able to take advantage of a tired opponent to come up with a pair of crucial victories. That is why, while they obviously would have preferred to play better in the second half after taking a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter, they were realistic about the fact they simply wore down as the game went along, and weren’t able to withstand Toronto’s final surge.
2. Mason Plumlee had been tied to the bench in recent games, with the rookie being passed over in favor of Reggie Evans for each of the previous four contests in a row after struggling a bit in the Nets’ win in Oklahoma City on Jan. 2. But Nets coach Jason Kidd went with the rookie in the starting lineup Saturday night with Kevin Garnett getting the night off for rest, and Plumlee rewarded him with a solid performance, finishing with six points, five rebounds and four blocks in 28 minutes.
Although Plumlee struggled to finish a few times at the rim – it took him too long to load up and explode to the basket, allowing defenders to either have time to react and block his shot or get a hand in and poke the ball out of bounds – he again showed an excellent motor and very good athleticism (his second jump to block/contest shots is particularly impressive) and showed why he’s probably been the team’s biggest and most pleasant surprise this season. The question now is whether Plumlee will once again move ahead of Evans in the pecking order of Nets’ big men.
3. On one hand, I can understand why the Nets chose to bring Tyshawn Taylor back to Brooklyn this week once Deron Williams was going to miss games because of undergoing cortisone shots and platelet rich plasma injections in both of his ankles. But, on the other hand, if they were only going to play him for a few minutes in Saturday’s game – and only after Livingston played over 50 minutes Friday and was exhausted – and sit him the rest of the week, then why keep him from going to Reno to play in the D-League Showcase this week?
Perhaps it was just a case of bad timing because of Williams’ ankle woes, and if the Nets had suffered an injury to Livingston or Alan Anderson – their de facto backup point with Williams injured – Taylor’s presence obviously would’ve been beneficial. But, in any event, it seems like a missed opportunity for a young player to get some playing time.