Here are three thoughts on the Nets’ 104-99 win over the Bobcats on Wednesday night:
1. While Deron Williams has been putting up big numbers on offense lately, it was his defense on Kemba Walker that helped ensure the Nets left Barclays Center with a victory.
Walker, the former Rice High School and Connecticut star, has been excellent in his third season in the NBA, and was a borderline All-Star candidate in the East this season. But Williams easily outplayed Walker, holding the New York native to seven points and seven assists (along with four turnovers) while Walker shot 2-for-8 from the floor and 1-for-6 from 3-point range.
It was the kind of performance at both ends of the floor Williams is capable of having when he’s fully healthy, which he’s appeared to be over the past couple of weeks. And when he’s playing that way, the Nets become a very difficult team to beat.
2. Andrei Kirilenko has been lauded for doing all of the little things to help a team win since returning from sitting out most of the first two months of the season, as well as most of training camp, because of back spasms. But while Kirilenko makes innumerable contributions to the team’s success on the court – the Nets are 24-11 in games he’s played – his free-throw shooting is becoming a serious concern.
After shooting a respectable 35-for-53 (66 percent) from the foul line through his first 17 games, he’s gone a dreadful 17-for-49 (34.7 percent) in the 18 games since Feb. 1.
Because of all of the little things Kirilenko does, he’s the kind of player you want on the court when the game is on the line. But with his free-throw shooting getting this bad, you have to wonder if it will impact when and how Nets coach Jason Kidd is willing to use him.
3. Though the Nets lack a true inside presence with Brook Lopez out for the season, that didn’t stop them from getting to the foul line against the Bobcats – who entered the game as the league’s best team at not fouling their opponents.
The Nets got to the line 35 times, and though they only made 21, the disparity between the Nets and Bobcats (who were 10-for-12) was the big difference in the game. Though the Nets lack that true inside presence, they do have several players – including Williams, Shaun Livingston, Paul Pierce and Kirilenko – who are adept at drawing fouls and getting to the line.