For the third time this season, the Nets played in front of a split-crowd in their own building.
After the Nets twice played host to the Knicks in front of 60-40 or 50-50 crowds inside Barclays Center, the crowd for last night’s 92-83 loss to the Lakers was at least a 50-50 split, and may have even been tilted slightly in the Lakers’ direction.
It was a big departure from the way the crowd had been throughout the season when other national brand teams like the Celtics, Heat, Thunder and Bulls came to Barclays Center, and came as a surprise to many.
But one person who wasn’t surprised was Deron Williams, who became all-too familiar with the way Lakers fans travel during his years in Utah, where he began his NBA career.
“I’ve played a lot of games against the Lakers,” Williams said with a smile. “In Salt Lake City, that arena was always very good for Utah, but whenever the Lakers came to town … there was something about them. They just have fans that travel well.”
Those fans made their presence felt, particularly whenever they could cheer for Kobe Bryant. The crowd went crazy when Bryant was introduced to begin the game, as well as whenever he did anything throughout it. The roof nearly came off when Bryant threw down a huge slam dunk late in the fourth quarter, and he also heard some “M-V-P!” chants — something he said was “pretty damn cool” afterwards.
*****After MarShon Brooks (sore left ankle) and Andray Blatche (undisclosed illness) were both questionable for last night’s game, both were available to interim coach P.J. Carlesimo. But after early appearances, both were quickly shipped to the bench for the rest of the night.
Brooks finished 0-for-1 in 3:22, all of which came in the first quarter, while Blatche went 1-for-4 and finished with two points and two rebounds in 4:45.
Blatche, in particular, didn’t look like himself after missing yesterday’s morning shootaround because he was under the weather.
Blatche was part of the unit on the court to begin the second quarter that allowed the Lakers to open the quarter with a 10-2 run to retake both the lead and the momentum.
“The second quarter really hurt us,” Carlesimo said. “In fairness to our guys, we had a couple guys who were sick or couldn’t practice yesterday, and they played like that.
“In retrospect, it might have been better not to put them out there, because we dindn’t get off to a good start, then climbed our way back in and that second quarter, particularly the first five or six minutes, hurt us.”
*****The luster surrounding last night’s Nets-Lakers game took a big hit when Dwight Howard ruled himself out with a sore right shoulder.
It was the third straight game that Howard, whom the Nets had chased after for almost a year before he was traded to the Lakers during the summer, would miss. Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said he wasn’t sure if Howard would return at any point during the final three games of their road trip.
“I have no idea,” D’Antoni said before the game. “I would think, but I do not know. “When the pain goes away, it goes away.”
As for Howard, who spent much of his final season in Orlando pining to come join Deron Williams and the Nets, he passed when asked if he was interested in seeing what the atmosphere in the building would be like.
“Well, I’m looking forward to our team coming out and having another good game,’’ he said. “That’s the biggest thing. We need another win. We’re playing against a good team, and it’s going to be a challenge.”
The Lakers also were dealt a blow when Metta World Peace was suspended for last night’s game following an incident with Pistons guard Brandon Knight in the Lakers’ win Sunday in Detroit.
World Peace, the Queensbridge native and former St. John’s star, received his 15th suspension of his career.