MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Brook Lopez was the best offensive player on the floor in the first half last night, but there still was something missing from his game and Nets coach Avery Johnson told him without really saying anything.
Johnson made a circle with his hand and put it over his eye, signaling to Lopez he had not grabbed a single defensive rebound in the half. Zero - which contributed to the Grizzlies registering 10 second-chance points.
If not for that, some turnovers and too many fouls early, the Nets might have been on their way to an easy victory. Nothing ever is easy for the Nets, but they did come out with 101-94 victory, showing tremendous focus and confidence amid rumors and speculation that the team would be broken up in the near future.
None of that mattered to Lopez, who is not involved in any of the trade talks for Carmelo Anthony. None of that mattered to Devin Harris, who is. None of it mattered to any one of the Nets, whose singular purpose was to carry their hard work and belief in each other onto the court against the Grizzlies.
By doing so, the Nets ended a 10-game road losing streak and won two in a row for the first time since they were 2-0 way back in late October.
The Nets had some bumps, liking giving up a 14-point first-half lead. But they came through when it mattered
Lopez continued to be the best player on the floor with 26 points and grabbed five defensive rebounds in the second half. He also fought for a defensive free-throw rebound that led to two fouls shots late.
Twice this season, Lopez let one of those go in narrow losses at Sacramento and Charlotte and was lambasted for it by Johnson. Not on this night, though. Lopez responded at halftime and Johnson praised him.
“It was good because I put a big zero over my eyes at halftime because he had zero defensive rebounds and we started counting them in the second half,” Johnson said. “He was aggressive on offense, he posted up tonight, he faced up. He had a variety of moves tonight, got to the line with strong moves and a block here and there at timely situation. Big man, he did well.”
It wasn’t just big man.
Sasha Vujacic, in his third game since being acquired by the Lakers, continued to show he’s a good fit, pouring in 16 off the bench.
Kris Humphries was a force again with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Stephen Graham played good defense on Rudy Gay and was an unlikely big-shot maker, hitting one with 26.5 seconds left to give the Nets an eight-point lead.
Travis Outlaw made some big shots, scoring 11 and pulling down nine boards to help finish at plus-10 on the glass.
Harris hit a big bank shot late and some free throws.
It’s also what the Nets did as a team. They held the Grizzlies to just five second-chance points in the second half and high double-double machine Zach Randolph to one point and two rebounds.
“We limited them to one shot most of the second half and that’s really what changed it,” Lopez said. “We came in and talked at halftime. Randolph’s bread and butter, what he’s great at is getting those offensive rebounds and putting them right back in and we tried to limit that after the half and it worked really well for us.”
The Nets did enough to win, deflecting all the talk outside the locker room and making sure all that mattered was taking what was said in the locker room and on the practice court into the game.
***
Coach’s Corner
“We just got positive energy. Our defense even earlier in the season was good enough to win some games for us, but we just couldn’t score. But now the floor is being spaced a little more. Brook was dominant offensively inside. Sasha gave us a big lift off of the bench. We dominated the boards. That’s a really good young basketball team over there. They’ve been together for a few years. But I told our guys early on I thought we had a really [good] shot at winning if we played the right way.”
- Johnson on winning two in a row
***
Follow me on Twitter: @Al_Iannazzone
***
Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)
