 
|
|
|
 |
||
Bulls 103 @ Nets 112 (F/OT) : Wednesday, October 31st By Matt McQueeny, NJNets.com Post-Game Recap The Nets won in their Opening Night game 112-103 at IZOD Center. The Nets have now beaten the Bulls 12 straight times on their home floor. Richard Jefferson led all scorers with 29, including 12-for-12 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed 10 rebounds. Jason Kidd dished 13 assists, pulled down eight rebounds, had five steals, and scored seven points; he took just four shots. Vince Carter struggled from the field in 46 minutes, going 6-of-21, but did go 12-of-12 from the line, and grabbed nine rebounds and dished six assists. Antoine Wright, on the heels of a hard summer’s work, scored a career-high 21, including 14 in the fourth quarter and overtime. Said Wright, after the game, “With all of the work I put in this summer, I feel confident that every time I touch the ball when I’m open, I’m going to make it.” "We don't win the game without Antoine Wright stepping up the way he did," said Lawrence Frank. "Guys who are competitors are going to play hard." "I think this game gives Antoine Wright confidence," said Jason Kidd. "He played extremely well and took what the defense gave him. The biggest thing about his game tonight was that he competed on the defensive end." Ben Gordon led all Bulls with 27 points, 16 of which came in the third quarter. Luol Deng had a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds. It might have been Game 1 of 82, but the atmosphere was playoff-like in its intensity. Said Richard Jefferson, "I think the biggest statement made all day was by the referee half way through the fourth quarter when he said, 'you know Rich, this is kind of like a playoff game'. If you're going to be competitive in the Eastern Conference, with the teams being so tight and with so many good teams, you're going to have to approach every single game, every single night like this. To their credit, we got out to an early lead, they came back, Ben Gordon hit some tough shots, but we just didn't want to let down. We really wanted to get this win." "In the course of 48 minutes, there are so many possessions," said Frank. "There are so many runs, so you have to give them credit coming out of half time. They made a ton of jump shots. They played really good defense. At the end of the day, you have to try and keep your poise." Nets Win 112-103 in Overtime The Nets were first on the board in overtime when Antoine Wright hit another three-pointer, at the 4:18 mark. Andres Nocioni hit a jumper from the top-of-the-key for the Bulls; Antoine Wright, again, responded with a nifty driving lay up, putting the Nets up 101-98 with 3:18 to go. Andres Nocioni scored again, this time on a lay up and Vince Carter responded with a lay up off of a Jason Kidd alley-oop pass. At 1:38, Ben Wallace converted on a dunk, pulling the Bulls yet again within a point (103-102). But the Nets created some separation. Richard Jefferson scored on a tough driving baseline jumper, Vince Carter stole the ball on the ensuing Bull possession, and Richard Jefferson hit a three-pointer, putting the Nets up 108-102 with 37.6 to go. That would be all they would need, as they took game 1 of the 2007-08 Season 112-103. 96-96 at the End of Regulation Andres Nocioni hit a jumper to start scoring in the fourth, giving the Bulls their first lead of the second half. Vince Carter responded with four unanswered, putting the Nets back up three (78-75) with 8:27 to go. When Richard Jefferson hit a three at 6:11, it put the Nets up four (84-80). Chicago responded with a 7-0 run to go up 87-84. Luol Deng scored five in the run, on a driving lay up and one, and on a fast break dunk off of an open court steal of Vince Carter. Antoine Wright, who scored three big buckets in the quarter, hit a three to tie the game back up with 3:45 to go. The shot spurred a 7-0 run for the Nets, with Vince Carter scoring the other four points. Ben Gordon and Richard Jefferson traded 2-for-2’s from the line, keeping the Nets up 93-89. Antoine Wright hit another three pointer with 2:01 to go, giving the Nets a seven-point advantage. But the Bulls shot back, on a 7-0 run; Andre Nocioni’s three-pointer with 39.8 tied the game at 96. Vince Carter missed on a chance to put the Nets back on top with 19 seconds to go and Ben Gordon missed on a long shot opportunity to win the game for the Bulls in the final seconds. Gordon Goes for 16; Pulls Bulls All the Way Back Ben Gordon and the Bulls got themselves all the way back in the game in the third quarter. Gordon scored 16, helping push the Bulls all the way to a tie (69-69) on a 28-13 run. Antoine Wright and Joe Smith subsequently swapped jumpers, and then Boki Nachbar hit a three-pointer to put the Nets back up three (74-71). Tyrus Thomas converted on two free-throws with 37.5 to go, keeping the Nets with just a slim 74-73 lead going into the fourth. The Nets were 5-of-17 from the field in the third. Nets Lead 56-41 At Half The Nets came out in the second on an 8-3 run, giving them a 10-point lead (33-23) at the 8:32 mark. Antoine Wright scored five points in the run. Chicago got back as close as five (40-35) but a 16-8 Net advantage to close the quarter gave New Jersey a 56-43 halftime lead. Richard Jefferson had 11 of his 17 first-half points in the second. The Nets had a flurry of activity in the final minute of the half, with three steals: Vince Carter had a steal with 51.9 and Josh Boone missed a lay up; Jason Kidd stole a pass with 39.9 and passed near the hoop to a dunking Richard Jefferson; and Boone made a steal with 33.9 and got it to Kidd, who was fouled and went 1-out-of-2 from the line. Thabo Sefalosha of the Bulls threw 2-of-3 of the passes that led to steals. Nets Lead 25-21 After One The Nets and Bulls were back-and-forth early on this Opening Night. New Jersey pushed out to a 12-8 and 14-11 lead. The Bulls – on the help of two unanswered Ben Wallace buckets: a driving lay up and a turnaround jumper in the lane – took a 15-14 lead. The Nets responded with an 11-3 run to take a 25-18 advantage with 1:03 to go in the first quarter. A Chris Duhon three-pointer from the right baseline closed scoring in the quarter with a second on the clock. The Nets took a 25-21 lead into the second. Vince Carter had eight in the quarter and Richard Jefferson had six. The Nets also got out on the break, scoring 12 to Chicago’s zero in transition. Nets 3-out-of-4 vs. Bulls Last Season The Nets beat the Chicago Bulls in 3-out-of-4 games last season. Coach Frank was asked what he attributes that recent success to. “Both teams obviously are perimeter-oriented. All the games by and large – with the exception of them blowing us out last year – have been fairly close…Our guards at times we have a little bit more size but it’s hard to figure out. They easily could have beaten us three or four the way we beat them, there is such a fine line." Thoughts On Tonight's Rotation We know the starters tonight - Kidd, Carter, Jefferson, Krstic, and Collins. In terms of the rotation after that, Coach Frank - today at shoot around - said "you know Darrell (Armstrong) is going to get backup minutes at point, you know Boki (Nachbar) and Antoine (Wright) are going to play." "The question is going to be in terms of the bigs. I know going into tonight who is going to play and then based on performance we’ll go from there.” “If our big against their small is advantageous, we’ll stay that way; if it’s not, then we’ll go in another direction.” Marcus Williams Update Marcus Williams was at one of the side hoops at the Nets practice facility taking baseline jump shots today. He was wearing an "In Kidd We Trust" shirt, made popular in Game 6 in the second round of last year's playoffs against the Cavaliers. He also was wearing one of his normal sneakers, on his healthy left foot, and one of Josh Boone's sneakers on his rehabbing right foot. Said Coach Frank, "The thing is that the splint only fits in that big Boone sneaker. It doesn’t fit in his sneaker; there have been some remarks.” As for how the point-guard is coming along, he gets an x-ray today to see if the screw inserted in the foot during surgery is in the proper place. If it is "then the splint can come off and then he can start doing some light stuff on the court.” Williams has been doing pool work and riding the stationary bike. Coach Frank on Chicago “We’re just focused on Chicago. They’re one of the best teams in the league, let alone the Eastern Conference. They’re extremely well-coached; they play as hard if not harder than anyone. Now a young nucleus that’s been together for three years. They’ve added some significant parts over the last couple of years. They’ve tasted success so it’s going to be a great opportunity.” “Everyone’s excited. For players, the preseason’s way too long; for coaches, it’s never long enough. Now, it’s great because you’re playing against a team who blew out the defending champions last opening night by (a lot). We know that it’s going to be a good opportunity. Game 1, there’s a lot of excitement. I don’t care how many years you’ve been in this league as a player. You’re going to have that electric, that energy about you.” Krstic Update Nenad Krstic played in three preseason games as he makes his way back from ACL surgery, but he is, by his own admission, still not 100%. There are still some aspects of the game - like boxing out on rebounds, moving his feet on defense, and "getting his legs back" - that he is working on. With more games under his belt, he thinks it is going to come. He is slotted to start Wednesday night. “We’ll just read it," said Coach Frank. "Play as long as you can play until you get tired, and then we’ll take him out. The biggest thing is that – he’s going to continue to get better throughout - when he is fatigued, we’re going to take him out and give someone else a turn and then get him back in there.” “There’s no limitations. The only limitations are where he is at. But there’s no limitation on his knee. We’ll just read it and see.” Going Small Lawrence Frank has noted a few times over the past week or so that Chicago is a team - among a host of other teams - in the league who will sometimes "go small," meaning they will play a smaller lineup trying to create mismatches with their best players on the floor. The Nets have also, at times, shown that they can successfully play that way. “We’re excited about it," said Richard Jefferson. "It’s just another dimension that you can add to your offense, to your team, to your defense. We have guys that can play small and be very, very effective. At the same point in time, if we want to try and exploit another team going small with our bigs we have that now with Jamaal Magloire, with Nenad Krstic being healthy. Even if it a team wants to go small, they’re going to have to try and match up against our bigs, which is something we haven’t had in a while.” Malik Talks Bulls Nets forward Malik Allen was a member of the Chicago Bulls over the last two seasons, averaging 11.8 minutes in 114 games. With the Bulls being the Nets’ opening night opponent for the regular season on Wednesday, who better to go to for a scouting report? “The biggest thing is that they play hard,” said Allen. “They play hard, they’re extremely well-coached, and they have a lot of talented guys on the team. I was around those guys for two years and I know how hard those guys work so it’s going to be a challenge for us. I think it’s a great test for us the first game of the year. In order for us to do what we say we all want to do, why not start with what everybody says is one of the best teams in the East.” “I haven’t had an opportunity to see them play too much (so far this year). I saw a little bit of them sporadically throughout the preseason. Definitely when I was there, those young guys they work on their games and they’re serious about their games. They want to win; that’s the culture out there, to be successful. So, you have to hand it to them. Kirk (Hinrich), he’s definitely made progressions. And I think not only skill-wise, but I think their confidence has definitely risen especially being able to advance and get out of the first round last year, being competitive. Those guys are hungry and we have to be just as hungry when we step on the court.” As for Allen, who did not play in the final three preseason games with a bruised left foot, he said he feels great. “The foot’s fine. I’ve had some good days of practice, a chance to get my conditioning back. So, I feel great and ready for the regular season to start.” |
||
