Dec 7, 2012; New York, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Joe Johnson (7) moves the ball as Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson (11) defends during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA Today Sports

Tonight, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Brooklyn Nets 109-92, handing the Nets their third straight loss and second straight at home. Brooklyn could not contain Stephen Curry and David Lee in particular and as a team, the Warriors finished with a high 51% field goal percentage. For the Nets, Joe Johnson methodically had a breakout game and Andray Blatche played well on offense too in place of injured Brook Lopez, but the team struggled on defense. This could bear to show that the Nets need Brook Lopez, not just for his offensive ability, but also his length on defense to disrupt opposing offenses in the second half.

The Warriors’ point guards really dominated the Nets’ defense tonight. They were able to push the tempo, to Golden State’s advantage. Stephen Curry had 28 points and 5 assists, on 10 of 19 shooting. Time and again, the Nets were simply unable to guard Curry, who beat the Nets off the dribble and on quick-release jumpers. Curry’s backup, Jarrett Jack, had 15 points and 8 assists. Down low, David Lee had a monster double double: 30 points and 15 rebounds and was a +16 in 41 minutes of playing time. The Nets always seem to struggle against athletic, stretch big men.

The Nets led by 8, 63-55 at halftime. Joe Johnson played a big role in the Nets’ offensive success in the first half. Andray Blatche surprisingly nailed a 3 at the end of the half to stretch Brooklyn’s lead. The team struggled in the 3rd quarter again though, scoring only 19 points to the Warriors’ 29. Part of the blame for this actually has to go to the Nets’ second unit, which has been shorthanded while Blatche has been starting for Brook Lopez. When Lopez comes back, hopefully on Sunday against the Bucks, Blatche will be able to return to the “bench mob” and be a big boost to it.

Brooklyn really could have taken better advantage of Golden State’s lack of a center. The Warriors’ starting center, Festus Azili, was a complete disaster: held scoreless and a -14 in 8 minutes of playing time. The backup center is Andris Biedrins, but he was ineffective in only 5 minutes of playing time. In their place, Draymond Green (who?), a 6-7 backup forward finished with 10 rebounds and was a game high +17 in 28 minutes.

For a game box score, click here.

Player grades and notes

Deron Williams: B-

Williams struggled with his 3 point shot, yet again. He went 2 of 10 from beyond the arc in 41 minutes. He still finished with 23 points and 8 assists; however, the Warriors’ point guards were better tonight.

Joe Johnson: A

Joe Johnson finally broke out tonight and got off to an extremely hot start in the first quarter. He finished with 32 points and 5 rebounds on 12-23 shooting and was a team high +3 in 39 minutes. On the other side of the ball, Golden State’s shooting guard Klay Thompson had a very pedestrian game going up on Johnson.

Gerald Wallace: B-

Wallace didn’t do much on offense tonight, but neither did his counterpart Harrison Barnes. The problem for Wallace was turnovers: he had a team-high 4.

Kris Humphries: C

Humphries had a really unfavorable matchup against David Lee and as a result, he only played 23 minutes. He finished with just 4 points and 4 rebounds while the Warriors’ bigs dominated.

Andray Blatche: B+

Blatche had yet another strong offensive game, finishing with 22 points, 15 rebounds (7 offensive), and 4 steals, on 8-13 shooting. He finished a +1 in 35 minutes. The Nets’ bigs dominated on offense, though.

Nets Bench: C

Avery Johnson tried to mix and match on the Nets’ second unit tonight, playing Mirza Teletovic and MarShon Brooks in the second half. None of the Nets’ reserves finished with a positive +/-.

In Context

The Nets struggled on defense in the second half for the third straight game. Hopefully Brook Lopez will be able to do something about this when he returns from injury in the next few games. The Nets will have a day to think it over, then play the Milwaukee Bucks at home at 6:00 Sunday evening. When the Nets played in New Jersey, they often struggled against Milwaukee. Let’s see if they can break their losing streak and get some positive momentum going into their showdown against the Knicks on Tuesday.

Kris Humphries and David Lee

Tonight, the Brooklyn Nets (11-6) will host the surprising Golden State Warriors (11-7) at Barclays Center while trying to end their short 2-game losing streak. The Nets are coming off of two losses to two of the NBA’s top teams, the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Warriors have won 4 of their last 5 games, including a 104-97 win at Detroit on Wednesday.

When these two teams met in Oakland earlier this year, the Warriors won 102-93 in one of the Nets’ weaker efforts of the year. In that game, the Nets’ defense collapsed in the third quarter where they were outscored 33-20. In the fourth, the Nets couldn’t get stops down the stretch and Golden State never let them back into the game. The Warriors had 3 players score 20+ points: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and David Lee. The Nets cannot allow that to happen again. The leading scorer for the Nets that night was Brook Lopez, but Brook will not play in the game tonight. After that loss, the Nets rallied to win 5 straight games before dropping their most recent 2.

This season, the Nets have already had three 2-game losing streaks, with two 5-game winning streaks in between. If the Nets continue that pattern, a 5-game winning streak will begin tonight.

Injuries: Brook Lopez will miss his 4th straight game tonight. There is hope that he will play on Sunday vs. Milwaukee, but in order for him to do this, he will have to be able to go through a full practice on Saturday. It is unknown if Reggie Evans will play. My guess is that he will. He missed Tuesday’s game against Oklahoma City with the flu. Golden State is still without Andrew Bogut and Brandon Rush is out for the season.

Key matchups:

Deron Williams vs. Stephen Curry. Advantage: Williams

Curry has been healthy all season, which is a large part of why Golden State is 11-7. He has averaged 19 ppg and 7 apg, very good numbers. He scored 25 points against the Nets earlier this season. Deron Williams is coming off his best offensive game of the season. He was very aggressive on offense and took lots of shots. His 3′s were also falling. I expect him to continue his aggressive style of play because the Nets’ offense scored 111 points in their last game even though they lost.

Joe Johnson vs. Klay Thompson. Advantage: Johnson

Thompson is an interesting player. He is a pretty good shooter, but he takes a whole lot of shots. He is taking over 15 shots per game this year and shooting under 40%, even though many of those shots are 3′s. This is another opportunity for Joe Johnson to have a breakout game. The Warriors’ backcourt defense is not good at all and Johnson should be able to overpower Thompson. He had a good 4th quarter against OKC on Tuesday. We’ll see if he can continue that tonight.

Gerald Wallace vs. Harrison Barnes. Advantage: Wallace

Barnes has been pretty much what the Warriors have expected from him: not great yet, but very good potential. He is averaging 10 points and 5 rebounds and has started every game this season. After guarding Lebron James and Kevin Durant the last two games, this should feel like a night off for Gerald Wallace.

Kris Humphries vs. David Lee. Advantage: Lee

Lee is one of the most underrated players in the NBA. He is averaging a strong double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds per game, to go along with 4 assists. He is a complete player on offense and has a good repertoire of shots. Kris Humphries is coming off of one of his better games on Tuesday, but he will have his hands full tonight with Lee.

Andray Blatche vs. Festus Ezeli. Advantage: Blatche

The Warriors are very weak at the center position without Andrew Bogut, which means a big advantage for Blatche. I am predicting a humungous game from him. He is going up against a rookie who has never seen post moves from a player like Blatche. I think he will score 20 points tonight, maybe more. Blatche has thrived since Brook Lopez’s injury and he will have another great game tonight.

Prediction: Nets 97, Warriors 86. 

The Nets will win this game pretty easily. Even though the Warriors are not a bad team, after playing the Heat and Thunder in back-to-back games, the Warriors will look as bad as the Wizards. The Nets have also had 2 days off and have only played once since last Saturday so Deron Williams and the rest of Brooklyn’s crew should be rested. Expect another home victory for the Nets.