Game Day Coverage: Thursday, October 25th

By Matt McQueeny, NJNets.com

Posted 10:41pm 10/25/07

Preseason Final- Nets Lose to Philadelphia 91-83

The Nets were mostly done in by the second and third quarters, where Philly got the better of them 51-30. New Jersey also missed not having Jason Kidd on the floor for another game. He should be in the lineup tomorrow night against the Knicks. Bostjan Nachbar led the Nets in scoring with 17; Jamaal Magloire had a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, and solid hustle; Richard Jefferson scored 15, and Vince Carter scored 10.

"Giving up 57 points in the first half was disappointing," said Coach Frank. "The fourth quarter group had good effort. I thought we had some good individual performances. The third quarter we defended a little better. Jamaal Magloire had a good showing. I thought Sean Williams was good. We had to put Antoine Wright in a real tough spot not having a backup point guard; that wasn't real fair for him."

For Philadelphia, Andre Miller (18 points) led five Sixers in double-figure scoring. Andre Iguodala scored 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

Posted 10:05pm 10/25/07

Fourth Quarter - Nets Cut Within Eight

When Antoine Wright hit a three from the left baseline, it brought the Nets as close as eight (85-77). Andre Miller, however, responded with a lay up. Shavlik Randolph then received a flagrant foul by Magloire, converted the two free-throws, and Kyle Korver hit on a jumper when Philadelphia got the possession back. It pushed the score to 91-77. New Jersey closed on a 6-0 run - which included a Sean Williams dunk (he also had a nice rejection) - bringing them back within eight, but that would be it. Philadelphia took the game 91-83.

Posted 9:32pm 10/25/07

Third Quarter - Philly Closes Quarter on 17-0 Run

The Nets came out of the half on a 10-4 run, cutting Philly's lead to 61-60 on a Darrell Armstrong three-pointer with 6:59 to go. Unfortunately, that would be all of their scoring in the quarter. The Sixers closed the third on a 17-0 run, giving them a 78-60 lead heading into the final frame. Andre Iguodala had seven points in the quarter.

Posted 8:52pm 10/25/07

Second Quarter - 19-5 Sixer Run Turns Tables

After Josh Boone hit a pair of free-throws in the second quarter, the Nets led 37-30. Philadelphia responded with a 19-5 run, helped by eight points from Willie Green, and took a seven point lead of their own (49-42). The Nets got back to within three on two separate occasions after that, but the Sixers hit on a mini 4-0 run late in the quarter and held a 57-50 lead at halftime. Andre Miller scored eight of his 12 first half points in the second quarter.

Posted 8:08pm 10/25/07

First Quarter - Jefferson Leads the Way

The Nets lead 30-27 after one. Richard Jefferson led all scorers in the quarter, with nine on 3-of-4 from the field. Jamaal Magloire - starting in place of Nenad Krstic - had six points and four rebounds. Rodney Carney led the way for the Sixers, with seven points. The Nets shot 68.8% from the field.

Posted 6:25pm 10/25/07

Nenad Slight Change of Plan

Upon further introspection, the Nets have decided not to play Nenad Krstic tonight. The 24 year-old center had a "heck of a workout" at IZOD Center hours before the game. Krstic is still slotted to play tomorrow night in New York; the team just wanted to limit his contact going into the season.

"He had a heck of a workout." said Frank, of Krstic. "Him, Malik (Allen) and Jason (Kidd) worked out here at 4 o’clock and worked their tails off for a good 50 minutes. Just to limit the contact, just taking precautions, a guy coming back from a major injury. After giving further thought we just figured it’d be better to play one of the two as opposed to both games."

Posted 4:05pm 10/25/07

Nenad Plan

Nenad Krstic has played in two preseason games to date - home against the Knicks last Thursday, and against the Celtics on Tuesday - in his return from a torn ACL.

Starting tonight, the Nets have a back-to-back: tonight against the Sixers and tomorrow in New York. The plan right now is for Krstic to play in both games.

"He’ll get a taste today, a taste tomorrow,” said Frank.

Marcus On the Mend

Marcus Williams has been out of a cast for "about a week-and-a-half" now as he rehabs from surgery to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal of his right foot.

“Been lifting, getting in the pool a lot, riding a bike," said the second-year point guard. "Things where I’m not really putting pressure on my foot.”

While it is not a definite, he said he could be practicing with the team by November 14th.

Kidd Update

Jason Kidd woke up this morning - a day after taking part in his first practice since straining his back on October 14th- feeling great. He could have played tonight but Coach Frank just wanted to air on the side of an extra day of rest. Kidd could get into the game tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks.

"I feel great," said Kidd. "I asked coach if he needed me tonight and he said no. We will probably give a dress rehearsal tomorrow and then go from there.”

"It was more my decision," said Frank. "It’s basically if you had to choose one I’d rather give him the extra day of rest. If it was today at New York, tomorrow at Jersey, I’d do tomorrow too. I wanted to give him an extra day of recovery."

Eddie Gill Waived

The Nets today announced that they requested waivers on guard Eddie Gill.

At shoot-around this morning, Lawrence Frank said it was a tough decision.

“We had to let Eddie Gill go," said Frank. "It was one of the hardest decisions that we’ve had to make. He played very, very well, competed his tail off. He’s definitely an NBA player.”

Gill, who signed with the Nets on October 1, 2007, appeared in four games during the preseason, including two starts, and averaged 4.3 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds.

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