There are two oft repeated notions
that pass for analysis these days in sports.
One says "defense travels well" and means that teams that
defend well improve their chances of winning on the road significantly. The other, most often applied to basketball
says "the bench plays much better at home than on the road".
Last night's 95-83 win by the Nets
over the Celtics last night will almost certainly be best remembered for the
brawl at the end of the second quarter that followed a hard Kris Humphries foul
on Kevin Garnett. Celtics point guard Rajon
Rondo raced in and came to his teammate's defense hitting Humphries and pushing
him into the stands under the basket.
Rondo and Humphries were ejected from the game as was Nets;' forward
Gerald Wallace who got a second technical foul in the brawl after complaining
to an official moments earlier about a
shot in the mouth that was not whistled.
The fight was a sure sign of a
couple of things. For openers it demonstrated that the Celtics, whom as Ian
Eagle pointed out during the telecast, had no problem bullying the Nets when
they struggled, did not respond well to being pushed back. It's likely that Celtics coach Doc Rivers had
that in mind when he called his team soft after the game.
It's also an indication that after
two years of having a transient roster, the Nets are a team that's together and
playing for each other. That not only showed itself during the fight but during
the game.
The Nets followed their great home
win against the Knicks with an even more impressive win at TD Garden. They led
from wire to wire thanks to a team defensive effort that held the C's to 42%
shooting and 1-7 shooting from three point distance. They also out rebounded their hosts 50-40 and
more than doubled their output on the offensive glass 17-8.
While the wisdom that defense
travels held true for the Nets, what the bench did in a huge game on the road flew
in the face of convention. Andray Blatche stepped in for a foul plagued Brook
Lopez and had 17 points as well as 13 boards while Reggie Evans, whose 33
minutes were at least partly the result of Humphries' ejection did his usual yeoman's
work on the boards collecting 10 caroms.
While the defense and the bench
provided the main spark for a great effort, Joe Johnson's game which included
18 points and 6 assists was also essential in part because he became
"Iso-Joe" when they needed him to be that guy. In the 4th quarter when the Nets were trying
to massage the shot clock on offense they were able to go to him at the end of
it and he made great decisions that resulted in scores, assists or trips to the
line. Deron Williams who had a modest statistical game was vital finding his
back court partner in the right position and in getting everyone in position so
the floor was spaced properly.
Monday's win against the Knicks was
surely a great one but last night's win may be a more certain sign that the
Nets, in their new home Brooklyn, have indeed joined the battle for an Eastern
Conference title. There's more work to do but the team has shown great talent
and great chemistry. Add a little fight
to it and we may have something special.
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