Nets Hold on to Victory in Philadelphia

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 5^th, 2014

Brooklyn Nets vs Philadelphia 76ers Post Game Recap

Final Score: Nets 105 76ers 101

The Brooklyn Nets were able to win the second half of a back to back against the horrible Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night, and with the win moved the Nets to (42-34) on the season. The victory keeps the Nets 2.5 games behind the Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division with six games left on the schedule.

Player of the Game: Deron Williams

In the win on Saturday, it was Deron Williams who helped lead the Nets to the road victory against the woeful 76ers. Williams scored a team-high 19 points on six for 11 shooting with nine assists and four rebounds. Williams also tied a Nets franchise record, as he was able to swipe a steal in his 26^th consecutive game. In the fourth quarter with the lead falling apart, Williams had a big four-point play to help the Nets hold on to the win.

Positives:

On Saturday night the biggest positive for the Nets was the return of their Center Kevin Garnett, who had been out with back spasms for the previous 19 games. In his return, Garnett played very good against the 76ers, which was probably the best opponent for anyone to get rid of rust against. He finished with 10 points on five for six shooting with four rebounds, one steal, and one block in 13 minutes. With his 10 points, Garnett also passed Alex English for 14^th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Biggest thing for the Nets and Garnett moving forward will be how many minutes the medical staff thinks he can play for the rest of the regular season, and eventually the playoffs.

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Due to the return of Garnett, it moved Mason Plumlee back to the bench, but Plumlee still saw a good amount of court time, and played well in his new role. Plumlee finished with 16 points on eight for 10 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds in 23 minutes. The combination of Garnett and Plumlee makes the Nets Center situation look a lot better heading into the playoff then it did with just Plumlee as the starter.

Scoring wise the Nets were pretty well balanced with six players in double-digits, as besides Williams Garnett and Plumlee, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson and Andray Blatche also had 10 or more points. Pierce finished with 11 points on five for 10 shooting in addition to his five rebounds and four assists. Johnson added 12 points on four for nine shooting, and Blatche scored 10 on four for eight shooting in just 11 minutes.

Negatives:

the second half wasn’t very good for Brooklyn after they heading into halftime with a 15-point lead, as the 76ers outscored them in the third quarter by three points, and the in the fourth by eight points. Jason Kidd decided to never bring Garnett, Pierce or Johnson back into the game, which was a questionable decision with the 76ers mounting a comeback, but Williams and the bench got it done to hold on to the win.