After the Nets jumped out to a 35-17 lead over the Magic following the first quarter yesterday at Barclays Center, it looked as if they were well on their way to a decisive win to match Friday night’s 39-point blowout in Orlando.
Then the Nets forgot how to shoot.
The Nets managed to score just 47 points over the final three quarters, but thanks to an equally dismal offensive performance from the Magic, hung on for an 82-74 win in front of 16,523.
“I have no clue,” Joe Johnson said with a smile when asked what happened to the offense. “It’s a good thing our defense held up pretty good.”
The Nets simply couldn’t get anything going offensively once the first quarter ended. They shot a combined 16-for-55 (29 percent) from the field over the final three quarters, including going 2-for-16 (12.5 percent) from 3-point range, and committed 11 turnovers.
That allowed the young and injury-riddled Magic, playing without veterans Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu and Al Harrington, to hang around and cut what was once a 20-point Nets lead all the way down to five when a Glen Davis layup made it 75-70 with 2:06 remaining. Before the Nets could get flashbacks of last Monday’s squandered 22-point home lead against the Timberwolves, Deron Williams then hit a long jumper and found Brook Lopez for a bucket to put the game away.
“We are happy with the win, but I don’t think we’re happy with how we played in the second half, [and] especially in the fourth quarter,” said Williams, who finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
“That is the second time we have almost blown a 20-plus point lead. Even though we get up by 20, it doesn’t mean we can lose our aggressiveness.”
One player who didn’t lose his aggressiveness was Kris Humphries, who dominated in the paint. Humphries finished with 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting to go along with 21 rebounds and a blocked shot for the Nets.
“It’s tough to beat a team playing them two games in a row, especially when you have a big win and they come in and they’re motivated,” Humphries said. “We knew they were going to make a run, but we were able to handle it.”
The Nets had a bit of a scare midway through the fourth quarter when Williams landed awkwardly following a 3-pointer, then walked away with a bit of a limp favoring his left ankle. That is the same ankle in which Williams received a cortisone shot the week before the season began to combat inflammation from a bone spur.
Williams landed on the foot of Magic point guard E’Twuan Moore, which should have been called a foul. The league made allowing shooters room to come down cleanly after a jumper one of the officials’ points of emphasis before the season.
“I missed 13 games with that in my third year in the NBA, so it’s definitely a dangerous play,” said Williams, who said his ankle was fine. “It’s more scary than anything, when you come down and feel it. It hurt for a second, but now it’s good.”
Johnson, the other half of the Nets’ All-Star backcourt, continued his early-season struggles. He finished the game 3-for-13 from the field, and is now shooting 25-for-69 through his first five games as a Net.
“It will [come together] soon,” said Johnson, who finished with 13 points, three rebounds and four assists. “We’ll get back to the drawing board tomorrow and take it one game at a time, and sooner or later it’s going to come.”