PHOENIX – Here are my three thoughts on the Nets’ 100-98 overtime victory over the Suns Friday night:
1. Traveling around the NBA, there are plenty of different vantage points from which the media gets to watch games. But, whenever possible, the best option is to sit on the sideline behind the team bench, where you get a chance to not only see the action well but also see and hear what’s happening on the bench.
It just so happens that the visiting media here sits in that exact spot, giving us a front row view of Nets coach Jason Kidd doing his job in Friday night’s game. Since he was hired, Kidd has said he believes in having a calm, steady demeanor on the sidelines, and that will then translate over to his team feeling and playing the same way.
That’s why it was so striking to see Kidd up and out of his seat for virtually the entire game Friday night, yelling to his players and taking a much more active role in the game than he had done previously.
“Well, I’m trying to find my way as a coach,” Kidd said when asked about this afterwards. “This is a process for me, and there’s a lot of different theories of what to do, and I’m trying to find that.
“I felt sitting wasn’t doing my part or helping my guys, so I was going to try something new.”
While that may be true, it also seemed clear Kidd knew just how big this game was for the Nets. With Deron Williams down and out once again with another sprained ankle and with the Clippers on deck Saturday in Los Angeles – not to mention the Nets coming into the game riding a three-game losing streak and four losses in five games since Kidd took over as head coach – the Nets desperately needed this win to give them a little confidence and change the tone around the team.
He might not have been on the court with them, but Kidd was clearly trying to do whatever he could do to help. And when Kidd pumped his fist and then sprinted down to the other end of the court with the rest of his players after Joe Johnson’s buzzer-beater, it was equally clear just how important this win was for Brooklyn.
2. Joe Johnson has come up short in a couple of clutch situations recently, something that’s rarely been able to be said about the Nets’ starting shooting guard since he was acquired last summer. Johnson missed potential game-tying baskets against both the Wizards and Pacers last week, and also failed to take advantage in such a situation in the Nets’ season opener in Cleveland.
He had admitted his frustration in not coming through in those spots after Saturday’s loss, but did so twice Friday – hitting a game-tying bucket with 29.9 seconds to go in regulation, before knocking down the game winner at the buzzer in overtime.
“I can’t even believe it,” Johnson said afterwards of making them both. “But it happens sometimes. It’s the luck of the draw and I just try to stay focused, stay positive and do whatever it takes for us to win.”
The last play was a pretty fascinating one, with Johnson getting the ball tipped to him on the wing by Garnett with a little more than four seconds left. Johnson took off down the court, and appeared to hesitate and look like he was about to take a jumper. But, like he did with his game-tying basket, Johnson said his goal was always to take it to the hole.
“I had to get as close as I could,” he said, shaking his head. “I couldn’t make a shot to save my life tonight, but I figure my percentages are pretty good if I can get into the paint. So that’s what I tried to do.”
That hesitation was enough to allow Johnson to get to the rim, where he easily got off the shot before the buzzer sounded, putting just enough arc on it to lift it over the outstretched arm of 6-foot-11 Channing Frye and have it settle into the bottom of the basket and giving the Nets the win.
“Man, just being able to get to your sweet spot,” he said of his thought process in late and close situations. “Like I said, in those times and situations, you’re going into overtime and nobody is healthy, I’ve got a guy who’s a foot shorter than me and he can’t block my shot. I just tried to take my time.”
3. Brook Lopez was fantastic for the Nets again Friday night, carrying them back into the game in the fourth quarter by making one basket after another, and finishing with 25 of his 27 points in the second half and overtime, including making a couple of plays in the fourth quarter after spraining his left ankle when he landed on Kevin Garnett’s foot late in regulation.
Lopez is now scoring 20.5 points in 30.5 minutes a night, and is shooting over 57 percent from the field. And while the Nets have plenty of offensive weapons, at some point you have to wonder: why don’t they just feed him the ball over and over again? He’s averaging 13.5 shots per game, but there are more than 40 players around the league shooting more times a game than he is. Given how dominant he can be on the block, it seems like that should change.