NEWARK – As the fourth quarter wound down, and then the overtime, it looked like the Nets were going to have a similar result as the last time they jumped aboard an intercontinental flight. And you expected Deron Williams to deliver a clinching basket.
In preseason, Stephen Graham hit a buzzer-beating, game-winner to send the Nets off to Russia and ultimately China.
Last night, in Williams’ home debut, the Nets came up just short of leaving for London with a comeback victory at the buzzer. They ended up losing 104-103 to the Suns in a wild, entertaining game that 15,836 fans attended.
The ball was in Williams’ battered hands on the last play and he turned the corner for the basket, getting by Grant Hill and Marcin Gortat before putting up a runner over Channing Frye. Williams missed, but Kris Humphries tipped it in as Prudential Center erupted, thinking the Nets had won.
But Humphries' shot came after the light around the backboard went on. The officials waved it off, reviewed it, and said call on the play stands and the Nets took their flight to Europe to play a two-game weekend set against Toronto, knowing they made too many critical mistakes and wasted some tremendous efforts, starting with Williams.
“You like to see guys fighting out there,” Williams said. “That’s what we did. We battled. We didn’t give up. We were down seven with a couple of minutes left. We hung in there and battled.”
Williams has played three games as a Net and is looking for his first win still. In his third game, Williams topped his 17-assist performance Saturday by dishing for 18 dimes with 13 points last night as fans chanted “De-ron Williams.”
The 17 were impressive because the Nets shot 40 percent in Houston. The 18 were more impressive because Williams is playing with a strained right wrist, then he cut his left hand in the first quarter and banged it in the fourth, suffering a bruise.
To have 18 assists with both hands banged up is ridiculous, and Williams should have had more than 20. He was robbed of three in the first quarter as Humphries missed two layups and Brook Lopez couldn’t convert a 5-footer.
Anthony Morrow had 22 points and an unbelievable close to the game, putting the Nets in overtime with his clutch shooting. They were down 92-85 with under a minute left, but Morrow took over, scoring nine points in a 19.3-second span as he made two three-pointers and three free throws to tie it 96-96.
On that play, heady Steve Nash fouled Morrow as he shooting a three. Nash wanted to get the foul while Morrow was on the floor because you can’t give one of the NBA’s best three-point shooters a shot in that situation. But Nash fouled him just a hair too late.
Lopez had a strong game with 28 points and yes 10 rebounds. His 10th board came on a Nash missed driving layup with 16.9 seconds left in overtime that would have put the Suns up one. Lopez was guarding Nash at the time and made the shot tough for him.
But Lopez missed a foul shot with 9.3 seconds left that would have given the Nets a 104-101 lead. Then on the ensuing trip, Lopez was supposed to switch the pick, and didn’t, leaving Channing Frye all alone for a three-pointer. He drilled it with 6.6 seconds left to put the Suns up one.
“The play with Frye was something we went over and we just kind of missed a switch,” coach Avery Johnson said. “Hopefully next time we’ll execute better defensively. We knew what they were going to run. We just didn’t get it executed. We showed it to the guys after the game and they felt real bad but they don’t feel as bad as I do. They really battled.”
It was a wild game and one the Nets could have won. Everyone who was here or watched at home will remember the Frye three and the Morrow flurry at the end. But Williams was phenomenal, playing with both hands in pain and still dishing out 18 assists. Imagine what he will do when he’s fully healthy.
That probably crossed the minds of many Nets coaches, players and executives during their flight to London.
***
Follow me on Twitter: @Al_Iannazzone
***
Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)
