CLEVELAND – The Nets (20-42) took the Cavaliers (36-24) down to the wire, but LeBron James ultimately was the difference in a heart-breaking 129-123 defeat at the Quicken Loans Arena.
LeBron James turned in a dominant performance with 31 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to lead the home side, while D’Angelo Russell led the Nets with 25 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Brooklyn had seven players with double-digit scoring numbers, yet the team couldn’t get over its 55-36 disparity in rebounding. The Nets will now be looking to bounce back when they travel to face the Kings (18-42) in Sacramento on Thursday.
Here are three observations from the game:
Three-Point Defending and Rebounding Prove Costly
When the Nets look back at the replays from this game, they’ll wonder what might have been if they had rebounded the ball better.
Continuing a season-long issue, Brooklyn was outrebounded by almost 20 boards on Tuesday night. Against contending teams like the Cavaliers, the Nets can ill-afford to surrender extra possessions. The home team had 15 more shots than the visitors as a result. Then came the team’s issues with defending shots from downtown.
Brooklyn took a 29-25 lead after the first quarter, yet it was quickly undone as it had no answer for Kyle Korver in the second quarter. The Cavaliers small forward hit four threes in that quarter and the home side hit six overall in that span. While the Nets would match the home side’s final total of threes made (12), better defending in that quarter could have potentially gave Atkinson’s team a bigger lead than the 61-60 score they had at the break.
The DLo Effect
D’Angelo Russell missed the Nets’ first two games against the Cavaliers this season, he made sure his presence was felt in the third one.
Aside from a questionable decision with 20.1 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, this was clearly his best performance since returning from injury on Jan. 19. The Cavaliers struggled to find answers to contain Russell throughout the game. When they tried to guard him on the perimeter, he’d take the ball inside. Cut off driving lanes to the rim? Russell would hit a three, going 3-for-8 from downtown.
While Russell tried to downplay the significance of his performance, focusing on the final result instead, he is beginning to look more comfortable with each passing game. Prior to being reinserted into the starting lineup, Russell explained that he had a certain comfort level as a starter that he was trying to find when coming off the bench.
The 22-year-old has proved that in his past three starts.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Caris LeVert shake off the rust
Hollis-Jefferson and LeVert made their long-awaited return from injury on Monday night vs. the Bulls, but both appeared to be tentative at times. Which is understandable, considering that Hollis-Jefferson had missed 15 games and LeVert was out for five.
On Tuesday, the pair had a confident performance off the bench and almost sparked the Nets to an upset in Cleveland. LeVert was the second-highest scorer for Brooklyn, finishing with 18 points in 19 minutes on 6-for-9 shooting and Hollis-Jefferson added 14 points and seven boards, hitting 57.1 percent from the floor.