Tag: Brooklyn Nets

HoopsHype on the Boston Celtics’ 2013 Nets trade as one of the most lopsided deals ever

The trade that broke up 2008 title core has long been regarded by fans as among the most uneven ever executed in NBA history

The Boston Celtics trade that broke up the ball club’s 2008 title core by sending future Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2013 has long been regarded by fans as among the most uneven ever executed in NBA history, and for good reason.

Not only did the Celtics send Garnett, Pierce, DJ White, and Jason Terry and a 2017 first round draft pick to the Nets for Keith Bogans, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, Kris Joseph, Gerald Wallace, and three first round draft picks and two pick swaps, they also served as the now-common draft approach of rebuilding using some other team’s draft capital as well.

Such was part of the focus of a recent Hoops Hype article diving into some of the most lopsided trades in league history.

Jacque Vaughn: Kevin Durant will get knee imaged on Monday after leaving Heat game early

Jacque Vaughn says Kevin Durant will get his knee imaged on Monday.

According to Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn in his postgame interview, superstar Kevin Durant will undergo imaging on his right knee on Monday after leaving Sunday’s 102-101 win over the Miami Heat in the third quarter. Durant left the game with 36.6 seconds left in the third quarter after going through a tough night with contact at his legs.

He took big hits all game long. There was a hit that he took from Kyle Lowry as Lowry drew a charge on Durant’s drive to the basket. Durant stayed on the ground for about 30 seconds, but got back up and continued playing. However, with less than one minute left in the third quarter, Durant took the tumble that ended it all.

Jimmy Butler drove past Seth Curry, but was met at the rim by Ben Simmons. After Simmons blocked Butler’s shot, Butler fell to the ground, but not until he fell into Durant’s knee. Durant grabbed at his right knee in obvious pain, but stayed in the game until the pain got too bad and he left the game for the locker room. It was later announced in the fourth quarter that Durant was ruled out for the rest of the game.

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Nets’ Kyrie Irving says ‘staying poised’ was the reason for win over the Heat

Kyrie Irving says “staying poised” allowed Brooklyn to finish Sunday with a win over the Heat.

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving had a great game overall against the Miami Heat, but it was the tale of two halves. In Sunday’s 102-101 win, Irving finished points with 29 points, but he had only five points after halftime.

Irving started the game on fire as he had 24 points in the first half on a variety of shots with some of those being high difficulty attempts over defenders like Victor Oladipo and Jimmy Butler. In the second half, Irving was only 2-for-9 from the field as the Heat revved up the intensity on the defensive end of the floor.

Also, with Kevin Durant leaving late in the third quarter with a knee injury, Irving had to be a scorer and a facilitator at the same time. But, he handled the dual role well enough to help the Nets win the game in the end. Irving spoke postgame about what led to Brooklyn getting the win:

“Just staying poised. As you saw, there were a few turnovers down the stretch or shots that could’ve gone either way, but, in an NBA basketball game at the highest level, you’ve got to be able to stay poised and I felt like we did a great job of that. Just taking our time possession by possession knowing that mistakes inevitably are going to happen and shots are going to be missed and we just gotta make them miss.”

Brooklyn has now won 18 of its past 20 games, which is the best 20-game stretch in franchise history.

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NBA Twitter reacts to the Nets’ 102-101 win over the Miami Heat

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Nets’ 102-101 win over the Miami Heat on Sunday.

The Brooklyn Nets take a trip to South Beach on Sunday to battle the Miami Heat and won 102-101. This is the first time that these teams have played each other this season.

For the Nets, Kyrie Irving had 29 points and six assists while Kevin Durant had 17 points and four rebounds despite leaving the game in the third quarter with a knee injury. Seth Curry had 14 points off the bench and Nic Claxton had 13.

For the Heat, Jimmy Butler had 26 points and nine rebounds while Tyler Herro had 24 points and four rebounds. Bam Adebayo had 10 points and Haywood Highsmith had 10 points as well.

This was a tightly contested game from the first buzzer to the last. Both teams were not playing much defense in the first half as points in bunches were coming in transition. Brooklyn did a poor job of boxing out as they allowed Miami to finish the game with 16 offensive rebounds.

In the second half, both teams played better defense as the intensity on both ends rose. Each shot became more important as the misses started piling up. Durant left this game in the third quarter after Jimmy Butler fell into his knee on a night that he became the 14th all-time career scorer in NBA history. Royce O’Neale called game on a huge offensive rebound and putback of an Irving miss.

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacts to the Nets’ clutch win over the Heat:

Nets at Heat game preview: How to watch, TV channel, start time

Here’s what you need to know for Nets-Heat on Sunday.

The Brooklyn Nets visit FTX Arena on Sunday to face the Miami Heat for the first of three matchups this season. The Nets have won 13 of their last 14 games and that includes their most recent 108-102 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Brooklyn has been rolling ever since head coach Jacque Vaughn took over as head coach as they are 24-8 in that span. Before losing to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday 121-112, the Nets were on a 12-game winning streak. However, Brooklyn got back on track by beating the Pelicans in a tough contest from beginning to end.

The Heat have won six of their last 10 games and completed a five-game road trip by beating the Phoenix Suns 104-96 on Friday. Miami had a slow start to this season with a 7-11 record in November, but have since corrected course and are now 21-19, good for eighth in the Eastern Conference.

Here’s when and where you should tune in to see the matchup:

Boston, Brooklyn alum Kenny Anderson picks Celtics over Nets for the 2023 NBA title

“I just don’t think right now that (Brooklyn) can win without getting two or three more pieces,” Anderson opined.

The two hottest teams in the NBA’s Eastern Conference are the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets, and for retired point guard Kenny Anderson, it can be tough to bear when both of two of his three favorite teams play one another (the other being his former Portland Trail Blazers). In fact, Anderson recently told Bally Sports’ Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson he doesn’t watch the games when his former teams play.

That likely means Mr. Chibbs — as Anderson is sometimes called — will be sitting out the January 12 collision between the Nets and Celtics that could determine the top record in the East if not the league.

But when it comes to which of the squads has a better title case, Anderson did not hesitate. “I’m going with the Boston Celtics,” he related.

“I just don’t think right now that (Brooklyn) can win without getting two or three more pieces,” Anderson continued. “They need rebounding — they need a big!”

“I don’t see it but with Kyrie (Irving) and Kevin Durant, anything is possible. It can happen. But this year, the Celtics are motivated after how they lost last year in the Championship — they are motivated.”

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Nets’ Jacque Vaughn says ‘guarding the basketball’ was key to win over Pelicans

Jacque Vaughn says defense saved the day against the Pelicans on Friday.

The Brooklyn Nets had a tough night against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. In their 108-102 win over the Pelicans, the Nets had to battle back from a 15-point deficit to win a game in which superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving combined to go 16-of-48 (33%) from the field which includes Irving shooting 3-of-10 from behind the three-point line.

Brooklyn did not have a good start to this game as they appeared to be going through the motions and New Orleans took advantage of that. The Pelicans won the first half 64-53 thanks to the play of CJ McCollum and Naji Marshall taking advantage of the Nets’ slacking perimeter defense. However, Brooklyn won the second half 55-38 thanks to improved energy and better effort on defense.

Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn, as he has done throughout this season, made some adjustments after halftime. He went away from playing Yuta Watanabe and leaned into playing Seth Curry and TJ Warren more since they had good game shooting the ball to that point. Vaughn explained in his postgame interview how the Nets were able to come back to win this game:

“Down 11 in an opposing arena and for us to not overall shoot the basketball efficiently tonight and come away to win I think was the biggest adjustment. At halftime, we decided to guard the basketball and take pride in doing it. 38 points for them (the Pelicans) in the second half really shows that by the numbers and just, our overall demeanor.”

The Nets’ next game is Sunday at the Miami Heat.

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JJ Redick says the Brooklyn Nets are a ‘tier one team in the Eastern Conference’

JJ Redick says the Brooklyn Nets are a tier one contender in the East.

Former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick played 15 seasons in the NBA so it’s safe to say that he knows a thing or two about what a contender looks like. In a recent episode of his podcast, “Old Man and The Three“, he said that he considers the Brooklyn Nets a championship contender because of the things that he’s seeing from the team right now.

At the time of the episode, the Nets were playing the San Antonio Spurs later on that day while carrying an 11-game winning streak. Brooklyn had won 15 of their previous 16 games and were rolling on both ends of the floor. As predicted by most sportsbooks, the Nets made quick work of the Spurs and won 139-103.

What Redick sees from the Nets is that they’re playing well on both ends of the floor and are drama-free for the most part. Aside from Kyrie Irving’s infamous tweet, the Nets have made basketball the main thing and it’s showing on the court. Redick explained his reasoning for saying that Brooklyn is a tier-one team in the Eastern Conference:

“The best version of the Nets that we all thought was possible outside of the off the court drama, the coaching changes and all that, the best version of the Nets I think is what we’re seeing right here. Since 2000, every NBA Finals winner has been top five in either defense or offense. Sometimes both, but either defense or offense except for two and they were top 10 in both offense and defense. I mentioned earlier, the Nets are currently fifth in offense, 10th in defense. It’s hard for me given how they’ve played to not consider them a championship contender.”

Since the airing of this episode, Brooklyn is 2-1 with wins over the aforementioned Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans.

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Nets’ Nic Claxton says Brooklyn ‘has everything we need’ after win over Pelicans

Nic Claxton says Nets “have everything we need” after coming back to beat the Pelicans.

Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton has been talking a big game for the Nets lately, but he has been backing it up as well. In Friday’s 108-102 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Claxton started slow as he got into foul trouble early in the game while he was guarding Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas.

It looked like Valanciunas size bothered everyone on the Nets especially since the team is tall, but filled with a bunch of slim athletes including Claxton. In the second half, he was able to stay out of foul trouble as the Nets’ defensive intensity forced the ball away from Valanciunas and into the hands of guys like CJ McCollum and Naji Marshall on the perimeter.

By the end of the game, when Brooklyn completed a comeback from being down 11 points, Claxton finished with nine points (on 4-of-4 shooting from the field), nine rebounds, four assists, and five blocks. He spoke postgame about how the Nets have what they need to pursue a title this season:

“I hope so. Everybody, especially earlier in the season, ‘oh, they need this, they need a big, they need that,’ but we have everything we need when everybody is on the court, locked in, and we’re all scrambling, playing hard. We have enough length to where it gives us bigger guys fits like it did tonight against a Valanciunas. So, yeah, we good with everything we got in the locker room and we just got to keep building.”

With the win over the Pelicans, Brooklyn has now won 13 of its past 14 games.

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Nets’ Kyrie Irving says comeback win against Pelicans ‘shows growth’

Kyrie Irving discusses how the win over the Pelicans shows the teams growth.

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving had a game to forget in Friday’s 108-102 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Irving finished the game with 19 points, but those points came on 7-of-22 shooting from the field and 3-of-10 from behind the three-point line.

Aside from the first quarter, where he shot 2-of-4 from the field, Irving could not buy a bucket in this game. Even though he hit two clutch threes in the fourth quarter, Irving shot 5-of-18 from the field (27.7%) after the first quarter. It looked like the defense of Jose Alvarado and Trey Murphy bothered him as he never looked comfortable at any point in this game.

Irving found a way to make an impact in the game aside from scoring as he put up five rebounds and five assists. He spoke postgame about how coming back from an 11-point deficit to beat the Pelicans shows that the team is growing:

“It just shows you that we have areas of growth. Being challenged by other teams on the road, also at home, it shows we’re growing in some small areas where our communication is at an all-time high, especially when we’re on the road. We understand where we are and then, just the way we execute, you saw a few in and outs from me in the fourth quarter. You look back a year ago, I probably would’ve been pissed.”

Brooklyn’s next game is Sunday at the Miami Heat.

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