Warriors-Nets Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Dec 07 2012 10:54AM

The Brooklyn Nets managed to rebound nicely the two previous times they suffered back-to-back losses this season.

Again looking to avoid their first three-game skid, the Nets try to avenge an earlier defeat to the visiting Golden State Warriors on Friday night.

Brooklyn (11-6) ran off five straight victories each time following their first two sets of consecutive defeats. The second of those winning streaks was snapped with a 102-89 loss at Miami on Saturday, and the Nets followed that up by falling 117-111 to Oklahoma City on Tuesday as their six-game home win streak ended.

"(Miami and Oklahoma City) are two teams that have been together for a couple of years," said guard Deron Williams, who scored a season-high 33 points Tuesday. "They've won at the highest level and they know how to play together. We're still trying to figure things out."

The Nets' latest defeats came against last season's NBA finalists, and they were competitive versus the Thunder despite playing without center Brook Lopez for a third straight game. Oklahoma City, though, shot 60.6 percent Tuesday.

"A loss is a loss to us," forward Kris Humphries told the Nets' official website. "We're not the Nets of the past few years. No moral victories. We're trying to win games. Friday, that's our approach: get a win. We can't go on losing streaks. That's not what this year's about."

Brooklyn might not have an easy time getting back on track against the Warriors (11-7), who have won eight of 11 including 102-93 over the Nets on Nov. 21.

Lopez scored 22 points but Brooklyn shot 37.5 percent after the first quarter and blew a 13-point lead. Deron Williams and Joe Johnson totaled 22 points and shot 9 of 25.

While there's a good chance Lopez could sit out again with a foot injury, the Nets hope veteran Andray Blatche can continue to produce in his place. Blatche has averaged 17.7 points and 9.3 rebounds in the last three games minus Lopez.

Brooklyn also hopes key reserve Reggie Evans returns after he missed Tuesday's game with the flu.

The Nets are 7-2 at home, but face a Warriors team that opened a season-high seven-game eastern trip with a 104-97 win over Detroit on Wednesday. Klay Thompson scored 27 points while backcourt mate Stephen Curry had 22 with 10 assists.

With last season's foot problems apparently behind him, Curry (19.1 points per game) has recorded four straight double-doubles. He's averaged 21.4 points and 9.6 assists while the Warriors have won four of five.

"What I love right now is that Steph is in total control out there on the floor," coach Mark Jackson said. "When things get crazy, I don't feel like I need to call a timeout, because I'm so comfortable with his ability to run this basketball team."

Thompson has averaged 20.1 points in seven games, beginning when he and Curry combined for 48 against the Nets last month.

Lee, Curry make Jackson a winner in Brooklyn

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Dec 07 2012 11:48PM

NEW YORK (AP) Mark Jackson looked around Barclays Center and saw friends, family and familiar faces from a lifetime of New York basketball.

What he saw on the court was pretty special, too.

David Lee had 30 points and 15 rebounds, Stephen Curry scored 28 points, and the Golden State Warriors gave their coach a winning return to Brooklyn by beating the Nets 109-102 on Friday night.

"Good to be home," Jackson said, "and it's even better to leave out of here with a victory."

Lee scored six straight points to break open a tie game midway through the fourth quarter, and Curry had 21 in the second half for the Warriors, who won for the fifth time in six games.

Golden State improved to 2-0 on its season-high, seven-game road trip against Eastern Conference opponents, a game played not far from where Jackson became a New York City star.

Jackson's mother and sister were in the crowd, and he said he even recognized people working in the arena who worked at Madison Square Garden when he played there.

"He talked about it as being a dream of his and we just wanted to come out with effort to make that happen for him," Curry said. "You could see he had so much passion after the game. You could tell how much this meant to him."

Joe Johnson scored a season-high 32 points for the Nets, who dropped their season-high third straight. Deron Williams added 23 points and eight assists.

"We've had similar games like this all season where we get out to a lead and really can't hang on to it. We really got outworked especially in the second half," Williams said. "Stephen Curry got hot in the offensive end and defensively we just didn't play good tonight. We had too many breakdowns in our defense, too many system errors."

Brooklyn played without starting center Brook Lopez for a fourth straight game because of a sprained right foot. Andray Blatche had 22 points and 15 rebounds in his place.

Curry's streak of 20-point, 10-assist games ended at four, the longest by a Warriors player since Tim Hardaway 20 years ago, when he had only five assists.

But he was locked in scoring mode in the second half of his sixth straight game with 20 or more points, hitting long jumpers, showing a shooter's body language in believing that every time he pulled up, it was going in.

"He's a bad man," Jackson said. "He's a bad man. At the end of the day, he's healthy, and I'll take him matching up against any point guard in this league. And that's with total respect for Deron Williams and some other guys in this league, but Steph Curry is in that class and he shoots the ball as well as anybody that's ever played, and for the first time in a long time he's healthy, and I think people forgot just how good he is."

Curry tied it at 89 with a 3-pointer, then Lee knocked down two jumpers and put back a miss as the Warriors opened a 95-89 lead with 6:39 to play. The Nets got it down to four about three minutes later, but Lee converted a three-point play before Draymond Green's follow shot extended Golden State's lead to 105-96.

"Our problem is defense. We are not the same team defensively. We have to get back and figure it out," Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "We have to get our team out of this defensive funk."

Jackson was born in Brooklyn, played high school ball at nearby Bishop Loughlin, starred at St. John's and began his NBA career with the Knicks, winning Rookie of the Year honors in 1988. The trip back to Brooklyn hit home, he said, when the team bus passed a McDonald's where he used to eat after high school home games.

Jackson said he spent Thursday with his son and visited with his mother and sister earlier Friday. He said his reaction upon seeing the $1 billion Barclays Center was simply, "Wow!"

"You couldn't imagine this being here as a kid growing up, or as a high school kid, just couldn't imagine it," he said before the game. "So it's a big deal and rightfully so."

He said he had about 10 friends and family members at the game, and got a nice hand after the introduction of the Warriors' starting lineup.

Lee spent five years with the Knicks and reserve Charles Jenkins played at Hofstra, so plenty of Warriors were comfortable in New York.

"It's great for a bunch of us to be back here and we take a lot of pride in going on the road and finding a way to get wins," Lee said, "and we were very, very happy we did that."

The Nets led by seven after one, then got 3-pointers by Jerry Stackhouse and Johnson to open the second, increasing their lead to 37-24. The Warriors battled back to tie it at 55, but the Nets scored the final eight points of the half, taking a 63-55 lead on Blatche's 3 with 0.5 seconds remaining.

Curry brought the Warriors back in the third, making three 3-pointers and scoring 13 of Golden State's 29 points. Jarrett Jack's jumper with 1.1 seconds left sent the Warriors to the fourth with an 84-82 lead.

Jack had 15 points and eight assists, Klay Thompson scored 13 points, and Green finished with 10 rebounds.

NOTES: Avery Johnson said Lopez did some shooting and light running and the Nets would see what he could do at practice Saturday before re-evaluating him Sunday. ... The seven-game trip is only ninth for the Warriors franchise since moving West. They haven't had a winning record since going 4-3 in 1970-71. ... Avery Johnson said Blatche is a good passer - most of the time. "Sometimes he goes into his Globetrotter deal, which doesn't yield great results," Johnson said.

Notebook: Warriors 109, Nets 102

Jake Appleman, for NBA.com
Posted Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:58 PM - Updated Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:58 PM

THE FACTS: For the second time in 17 days, the Nets could not contain David Lee's energy or the combined efficiency of the Golden State Warriors backcourt. In a game that they consistently had to fight their way back into early on, the Warriors won, 109-102, on the strength of a 54-39 second half advantage. Lee finished with 30 points and 15 rebounds, while Stephen Curry poured in 28 points and dished out 5 assists.

The Nets wasted a season-high 32 points from Joe Johnson, who consistently took high percentage shots. Andray Blatche racked up an impressive 22 points and 15 rebounds, but struggled guarding Lee.

QUOTABLE: "I was just trying to hit the offensive glass. All I focused on going into these games is offensive rebounding and being aggressive on the glass and let the scoring take care of itself. I did that tonight, and of course Steph Curry and those guys shot the ball great."
-- Lee

THE STAT: The Warriors converted 24 fast break points to just 2 for the Nets.

TURNING POINT: Seeing rare action, MarShon Brooks penetrated and flipped up one of his trademark floaters. The shot went off the glass and spun out. Down the other end, Lee gave the Warriors a four-point lead with a jumper at 93-89 and the Nets would get no closer.

QUOTABLE II: "Just our effort defensively, it's like we weren't in tune. Put a lot of it on the guards, our one-on-one defense. They killed us on the glass, got all the 50-50 balls. You can't win like that."
-- Joe Johnson, on the Nets' second half struggles.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Yankees Closer Mariano Rivera and Jay-Z attended the game.

ROOKIE WATCH: Draymond Green corralled a career-high 10 rebounds. "He embodies the winning spirit," Warriors Coach Mark Jackson said, calling Green a "basketball genius." ... Festus Ezeli had a rough night, going scoreless and finishing with a -14. ... Harrison Barnes (6 points, 3 rebounds) had a quiet game.

NOTABLE: Joe Johnson scored 7 early points, using his size advantage to bully the smaller Warriors' backcourt on post-ups. He notched 15 of the Nets' 31 first-quarter points, the second most by a Net in a quarter this season after the 16 Johnson piled on the Cavaliers earlier in the season. ... Spurred by Jarrett Jack (15 points, 8 assists) the Warriors cut the Nets lead to 1 with a 13-4 second-quarter run. ... Curry finished with over 20 points for the sixth straight game, which had never happened before. ... The Warriors outscored the Nets in the paint 50-38.

UP NEXT: For the Warriors, Saturday @ Washington, Monday @ Charlotte, Wednesday @ Miami. For the Nets, Sunday vs. Milwaukee, Tuesday vs. New York, Wednesday @ Toronto.

• Warriors: Bogut, Rush
• Nets: Lopez, Shengelia

• Warriors: Curry
• Nets: --

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
• Officials: #8 Marc Davis, #26 Pat Fraher, #76 Steven Anderson
• Attendance: 17732
• Duration: 2:09