Nets comeback comes up short; fall to Bobcats 95-91

Photo credit: NBA.com

The Nets took to the road, after a one game stop back at the Barclays Center where they fell to the Portland Trail Blazers, to take on the Charlotte Bobcats who have been off to quite a surprising start to the season. Deron Williams made his return tonight after missing two games with a sprained ankle to try and lead the Nets to their eight straight win against the Bobcats, but that effort fell short as the Nets fell to Charlotte 95-91. The Nets fall to 3-8 on the season and 1-6 on the road.

The first quarter was a quarter of very little defense. Both the Nets and Bobcats scored pretty much at will as each team shot over 60% from the field. Joe Johnson got off to a hot start, putting up 10 points in 10 minutes. The interior defense for the Nets has been a problem since Brook Lopez went down with an ankle injury. They got outscored 14-4 in the paint in the first quarter. Charlotte led 30-29 after the first.

Not much changed in the second quarter. The effort by Brooklyn to get to the rim increased, but that's just about it. Deron Williams, coming off his second ankle sprain this season, was fouled on a jumper by Kemba Walker when he landed on the foot of Walker, who was underneath him on the jumper. Deron went on to knock down a couple of flat-footed free throws, but immediately left the floor and headed to the locker room. The Nets allowed the Bobcats, the lowest scoring team in the NBA, to put up 53 first half points on 58% shooting. It was a poor effort by the Nets on the defensive end in the half, but the offense was somewhat there. They shot 48% in the half and put up 50 points.

The dreaded third quarter rolled along, and the Nets didn't disappoint with another pathetic effort. Brooklyn turned the ball over nine times in the third quarter alone and continued playing very little defense. The Bobcats were able to put up another 30 point quarter on the lackluster Nets defense. Joe Johnson and Andray Blatche were the Nets offense in the third as Joe put up eight points while Blatche added seven.

The Nets waited until the fourth quarter to step it up on defense. They forced multiple turnovers in the closing minutes of the quarter. Andray Blatche alone carried the Nets back into the game on a personal 8-0 run, but the comeback effort came up short. A once 16 point Bobcats lead was cut down to just two.

Andray Blatche led the Nets with 25 points on 11/14 shooting while also grabbing seven rebounds. Joe Johnson put up 19 points on 6/13 shooting. Alan Anderson added 16 points while hitting 4/6 from three point. Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with 31 points on 12/20 shooting.

Final Score:  95-91 Bobcats
Most Disappointing Stat of The Game: 17 offensive rebounds for the Bobcats.
Promising Stat of The Game: Andray Blatche 25 points on 11/14 shooting
Scariest Moment of the Game: Deron Williams leaving with another ankle injury.
Best Moment of The Game: Mason Plumlee huge fast break dunk

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