Nets at Bulls Recap: Deron Struggling

In what was another sloppy game, the Nets lost to the Chicago Bulls 83-82. Turnovers were the key to this loss along with the sloppy play by Deron Williams, who finished with a game-high 24 points, but only had 5 assists and 4 turnovers. He started the game off with 13 points in the first quarter, but disappeared for the rest of the game.

After beating the Pistons in double overtime last night, it was expected that the Nets would look tired and worn out. But when a team has a seven point lead with a little over a minute left in the fourth, you're expected to step up and close the game out. That's exactly the opposite of what the Nets did. The first half wasn't pretty by any means. The Nets fell behind by seven at one point in the first, but came back to outscore Chicago 24-23 in the first. Then the sloppiness kicked in. The defense disappeared in the second quarter along with the offense. Chicago would end up outscoring Brooklyn 23-17 in the second to take a 46-41 lead at halftime.

The third quarter was when things started picking up on the defensive end of the floor. Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez really stepped up on defense and the Nets broke even with the Bulls 21-21 in the third. Things fell apart in the fourth. Turnovers took a huge toll and lost the game for the Nets. A combined 18 turnovers is unacceptable in all aspects. The Nets held a seven point lead, but blew it in the final minute allowing Chicago to go on a 10-2 run.

There weren't very many bright spots in this game. Gerald Wallace played a very important role in this one, scoring only six points, but grabbing nine rebounds and blocking four shots at the rim were what kept the Nets going. Brook Lopez finished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds, his third double-double of the season. Joe Johnson contributed 16 points on 7/16 shooting along with five assists and six turnovers. Deron Williams was looked to to close out the game, but missed a potential game-tying 15 footer. This leaves us with the obvious fact that Joe Johnson needs to be shooting the ball with the game on the line. Deron did make a buzzer beating three to end the game, but many people would say that it just added salt to a wound.

Final Score: 83-82 Bulls
Most Disappointing Stats of the Game: 18 turnovers for the Nets
Promising Stat of the Game: Gerald Wallace 4 blocked shots
Scary Moment of the Game: Brook Lopez getting posterized by Joakim Noah
Best Moment(s) of the Game: Gerald Wallace blocking two straight dunk attempts by Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer

Follow @NetsTakeOver