Cavaliers-Nets Preview

By MIKE LIPKA
Posted Dec 29 2012 12:11AM

A soft spot in the schedule is helping P.J. Carlesimo get off to a smooth start as coach of the Brooklyn Nets.

One night after the Nets rolled past an opponent that hasn't won in more than a month, Brooklyn hosts a last-place Cleveland Cavaliers club that remains without its best big man Saturday night.

That should provide Carlesimo with a good opportunity to improve to 2-0 since taking over for the fired Avery Johnson on Thursday. He led the Nets (15-14) to a 97-81 rout of Charlotte in his debut Friday, the Bobcats' 17th consecutive defeat.

Team owner Mikhail Prokhorov said he planned to meet with Carlesimo on Saturday, and that he wants to be patient with the interim coach. But he didn't rule out the possibility of a coaching search at some point.

"P.J. is the head coach and if it becomes necessary, you know who the usual suspects are," Prokhorov said.

"I think we have a lot of trust in (Carlesimo) and really I want him to lead the team."

With the Nets in the midst of a busy stretch, Carlesimo said he will "tweak some things" but won't make any major changes right away.

"The problem we have, the challenge we have short-term is that we have six games in nine days and we're not going to make wholesale changes for sure," Carlesimo said.

Brooklyn, which lost 10 of its first 13 games in December, didn't need to modify much Friday. Brook Lopez had 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting and Deron Williams, who missed Wednesday's 108-93 loss at Milwaukee with a bruised right wrist, added 19.

Neither played in the fourth quarter after the Nets led by as many as 29.

"I felt we're a good team all year and we just hit a rough patch," Williams said. "We've got to fight our way out of it, so we made a step in the right direction tonight and we just keep going."

Even though Cleveland (7-24) has won its last two road games, the Nets appear to have another favorable matchup Saturday. The Cavaliers are 3-12 this month after losing 102-94 at home to Atlanta on Friday despite Kyrie Irving's 28 points.

"That's the 24th loss for us, and in 20 of them we've been leading going into the fourth quarter or down by no more than six points," coach Byron Scott said. "So we've put ourselves in position. We've been right there. It's just learning how to close games out."

Irving, a New Jersey native who grew up rooting for the Nets, is averaging 26.3 points in four career games against the franchise - his best against any opponent. His 34 points, though, weren't enough Nov. 13 as the Cavaliers lost 114-101 in Brooklyn.

Williams, Lopez and Joe Johnson each scored at least 23 points in the win over Cleveland as the Nets posted season highs in points and field-goal percentage (54.5).

Anderson Varejao had a career-high 35 points and 18 rebounds for the Cavaliers in that game but will miss a sixth straight contest Saturday as he continues to deal with a bruised right knee.

"I want to be back tomorrow, but I know that's not possible," Varejao said Friday.

Reserve guard Daniel Gibson also won't make the trip after sustaining a concussion against the Hawks.

Nets hold off Cavs, move to 2-0 under Carlesimo

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Dec 29 2012 11:49PM

NEW YORK (AP) Two victories and now two huge tests coming up for the Brooklyn Nets.

They sure look more ready under P.J. Carlesimo than in their final days under Avery Johnson.

Brook Lopez scored a season-high 35 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and the Nets improved to 2-0 under their interim coach by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-100 on Saturday night.

Deron Williams and Joe Johnson each scored 15 points for the Nets, who fired Johnson on Thursday during a 3-10 skid and followed with two victories over losing teams. Now, they head off for major challenges at San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

"This can start something, so for us to get these two wins, we've got a little confidence going on the road, and we'll ride this confidence into San Antonio and try to get us another win," Johnson said.

Lopez followed his 26-point, 11-rebound performance in a victory Friday over Charlotte by shooting 13 of 20 from the field, making a number of timely baskets in the fourth quarter that the Nets ultimately needed to hold on.

CJ Miles scored a season-high 33 points and made eight 3-pointers for the Cavs, but Kyrie Irving capped a miserable shooting night when his tying 3-point attempt went in and out. He finished with 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting.

Tristan Thompson added 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who played without center Anderson Varejao because of a knee injury. He had a career-high 35 points and 18 rebounds in the previous meeting in Brooklyn and perhaps could have slowed Lopez, who fouled out rookie Tyler Zeller.

Carlesimo is trying to prove that if the Nets can't lure top priority Phil Jackson out of retirement, they should keep him. It would help if the Nets can win in San Antonio, where he was an assistant to Gregg Popovich, or Oklahoma City, where he held his last head coaching job.

"I always liked both places, to be honest with you," Carlesimo joked about the difficulty of the trip.

The Nets, blown out in their final two games under Johnson, clearly take a better mindset onto the road.

"They played more good minutes of this last 96 and we won two games, so there's no question they're in a better place," Carlesimo said.

Carlesimo had a chance to spend time with owner Mikhail Prokhorov and other team officials Saturday during a lunch meeting. Then he picked up another victory, with Prokhorov watching from his box above midcourt and part-owner Jay-Z from his courtside seat right next to the Nets' bench.

The Nets got off to another strong start, as they did in Friday's 97-81 rout of Charlotte, but couldn't sustain it this time.

After their 15-point lead was cut to one early in the fourth quarter, the Nets seemed to have regained control when they went ahead 92-81 with 7:07 remaining. But Miles nailed two 3-pointers around a pair of free throws, cutting it to five, and the Cavs eventually got it down to 100-97 on Thompson's follow shot with 47 seconds to go.

Irving missed on a drive, but then followed Williams' free throw with a 3-pointer that cut it to 101-100 with 5.9 seconds to play.

Johnson made two free throws and Irving got a good look from straightaway, staring at the basket in disbelief when the shot didn't stay down.

"That was a good look. He just hit one prior to that, had pretty much the same spot," Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said. "It was a pretty good look. When it left his hand I thought it was going to be pretty close. But yeah, that's the shot we wanted."

Carlesimo provided little details of the lunch meeting with Prokhorov, beyond that they ate at a Greek restaurant in Manhattan. Carlesimo said they talked about food and a little about the team over about two hours in his first extended conversation with Prokhorov. Asked what he learned about his boss, Carlesimo said: "I think if we would keep winning games, that would be good. He definitely prefers winning."

Carlesimo kept his sense of humor about the situation, responding to a question about Jeff Van Gundy's candidacy by saying: "I told Mikhail today in no uncertain terms I didn't want him talking to anybody." But he was serious when asked if the ability to make any list of coaching candidates meaningless by winning games, as Mike Woodson did last season with the Knicks, was available to him.

"I think it's available. I think we need a win and there's also coaches that are available and that's not something I have any control over," Carlesimo said before the game, adding that the Nets played well Friday and would "just go at it like one day at a time and let's see what's going to happen."

Lopez had the first five points of a 13-0 run that turned a 15-13 game into a 28-13 Brooklyn lead. He shot 7 of 8 for his 15 points in just 9 minutes, then Miles scored 13 second-quarter points in pulling the Cavs to 61-53 at halftime.

"We're playing hard. It's just growing pains and learning how to play," Miles said. "That first quarter really didn't help the cause. We got off to that slow start. We played that way probably a couple of minutes into the second (quarter) and throughout the whole game."

Cleveland cut it to 79-74 after three.

Notes: Irving was averaging 37.5 points in New York this season. He had 34 in his first game here and a career-high 41 in a loss to the Knicks on Dec. 15. ... The Nets again played without forward Kris Humphries because of an abdominal strain. ... The loss left Scott, a former Nets coach, at 399 wins, remaining one shy of becoming the eighth active coach with 400. ... After the game, the Nets waived reserve Josh Childress, who played in 14 games.

Notebook: Nets 103, Cavaliers 100

Jake Appleman, For NBA.com
Posted Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:14 PM - Updated Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:14 PM

THE FACTS: Brook Lopez propelled the Nets to a 103-100 victory over the Cavaliers with a season-high 35 points (including 11 in the fourth quarter) and 11 rebounds. C.J. Miles poured in 33, including 22 in the first half, as his hot shooting keeping the Cavs within striking distance heading into intermission. Kyrie Irving's straightaway 3-pointer with 5.9 seconds remaining set the Cavs up with an opportunity to send the game to overtime at the buzzer, but a similar 3 from Irving was off target to seal it.

QUOTABLE: "I wouldn't say we were lucky, but I would say we deserved to win more than Cleveland did."

-- Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo

THE STAT: The Nets (16-14) jumped out to a 10-point lead after the first after outscoring the Cavs (7-25) 14-4 in the paint.

TURNING POINT: With the Cavs within 4 early in the fourth quarter, Reggie Evans went on his own run -- a putback off of a Deron Williams miss and two consecutive steals leading to three made free throws -- to give the Nets enough of a lead to withhold a late charge by the Cavs.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Mikhail Prokhorov and some of his top Russian colleagues attended the game. Prokhorov had lunch earlier in the day with Carlesimo. ... With the Nets struggling early in the fourth quarter, a small pocket of fans changed "A-very John-son!" for the recently fired Nets coach. ... Barclays Center was sold out for the 11th time in 18 home games.

QUOTABLE II: "The game slows down and the basket seems as big as the arena."

-- C.J. Miles on his performance

ROOKIE WATCH: Dion Waiters (2-for-8) had his second straight poor shooting performance in Brooklyn, while Tyler Zeller, who was scored on repeatedly in the first quarter, bounced back to post a respectable stat line (12 points, seven rebounds).

NOTABLE: Lopez's 15 first quarter points were the second highest total this season after Joe Johnson's 16 fourth quarter points, also against the Cavaliers in November. ... Lopez registered double-digit points and rebounds for the third consecutive game.

UP NEXT: For the Cavaliers, Wednesday vs. Sacramento, Friday @ Charlotte, Saturday vs. Houston . For the Nets, Monday @ San Antonio, Wednesday @ Oklahoma City, Friday @ Washington.

• Cavaliers: Gibson, Samuels, Varejao
• Nets: Childress, Humphries

• Cavaliers: --
• Nets: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
• Officials: #49 Tom Washington, #6 Tony Brown, #70 Brent Barnaky
• Attendance: 17732
• Duration: 2:14