Kris Humphries

The wins continue for the Brooklyn Nets, with the latest victory being a wire-to-wire win over the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves, 91-83. The Nets were again led by their big 3 of Brook Lopez, Deron Williams, and Joe Johnson. Brook scored 22 points while Deron and Joe each contributed 18 a piece. C.J. Watson also had 14 points off the bench. For Minnesota, who was missing 6 key players, 5 players scored in double figures, led by Andrei Kirilenko’s 15.

Here at FRWD, this is what we like to call a “hanging around” game. This means a team never really has a chance to win the game, but is always on the perimeter of threatening to come back and take the lead. After the Nets jumped out to a 14-2 lead in this game, Minnesota was able to come back and make it a little bit interesting. They cut the Nets’ lead to just 1 in the second quarter, until Deron Williams returned to the game and made a couple of shots to give Brooklyn an 11-point lead at halftime. The third quarter was another bad one for the Nets, as they were outscored 20-15, but never lost the lead. Minnesota cut Brooklyn’s lead to as small as 2 points in the fourth quarter, but the Nets always had an answer. C.J. Watson, Joe Johnson, and Deron Williams each made big shots in the fourth to put the game away.

Although this was not a pretty win and was too close for comfort against a team missing so many players, a road win is a road win, especially against a western conference team who entered the game 11-6 at home. With the win, the Nets will go over .500 on the road this season at 10-9, a pretty impressive record. They are now tied with Indiana (who plays Portland later tonight) for third place in the east and are only 1/2 game behind Manhattan, who will be in Boston tomorrow night. If the struggling Celtics can find a way to win that game, the Atlantic division will be all tied up.

For a box score of this game, click here. 

Player grades and notes: 

Brook Lopez: B+

Brook had an efficient game, scoring 22 points in only 26 minutes. He also had 7 rebounds and 2 blocks, but was only 2-5 from the foul line. However, this was Brook’s game to dominate. The Timberwolves didn’t have either Kevin Love or Nikola Pekovic playing in this game and Lopez’s biggest competition was Greg Stiemsma. Lopez raised his scoring average in this game and is still the leading scorer among NBA centers. It would be a travesty for him not to make the all-star team.

Deron Williams: A-

Deron had his typical game: 18 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. He also hit a dagger 3-pointer in this game to put the Nets up 10 with a little over a minute to go.

Joe Johnson: A-

JJ had another effective game, scoring 18 points on 8-16 shooting. He did a good job defensively on Ricky Rubio and he also had a couple of big shots in this game, including a 3-pointer with the Nets only up 2 and about 5 minutes left in the game.

Kris Humphries: C+

It’s official: Kris Humphries has returned to the rotation. Today he had 2 points on only 1-5 shooting, but also had 8 rebounds. He missed a lot of shots near the rim and got blocked lots of times. Still, he was pretty active in the game.

Andray Blatche: C

Blatche did not play very well for the second straight game. He had 9 points and 5 rebounds on only 3-11 shooting. He missed a couple of layups and also turned the ball over while trying to lead a fast break. He should have played much better tonight.

C.J. Watson: A

C.J. had one of his best games in a long time, scoring 14 points on 6-8 shooting in 20 minutes. He also played for all of crunch time with the 3-man backcourt of C.J., Deron, and Joe Johnson. He made a couple of big shots in the fourth quarter today and also played good defense on J.J. Barea, including drawing a charge. Barea and Watson both played pretty chippy games.

After today the Nets will fly to a much warmer place, Memphis, where they will play the Grizzlies on Friday. Memphis has been one of the better teams in the western conference this year and that could be a statement game if Brooklyn can win.

Ricky Rubio

The Brooklyn Nets (25-16) will look to pick up another 1/2 game on the Manhattan Knicks Wednesday night when they travel up north to face the struggling and injured Minnesota Timberwolves (17-21). Brooklyn has been the hottest team in the NBA recently and has only lost once in the month of January. They are also coming off of a very important and exciting win over the Knicks. The Timberwolves have been going in the opposite direction. This month they are only 3-8 and have lost 6 of their past 7 games. Their struggles began when Kevin Love injured his hand again at the beginning of the month and the team has now fallen to last place in the northwest division and out of the playoff picture in the western conference.

When Nets fans think of the Timberwolves, an early season collapse under Avery Johnson comes to mind. In only the second game of the season, Brooklyn hosted Minnesota and jumped out to a 62-47 lead at halftime. The third quarter was also ok and Brooklyn retained an 11-point lead heading into the fourth quarter where everything that could have went wrong, went wrong. The Nets were outscored 32-10 in that quarter and went on to suffer one of their most embarrassing losses of the year. However, that game is far behind Brooklyn now and that game is not fresh in either team’s mind. Still, the Nets may want some revenge tonight.

Injuries: Brooklyn has been healthy in terms of injuries for most of the year and have no significant injuries at this time. Minnesota, on the other hand, has been one of the unluckiest teams in the NBA this year. I will list their current injuries in order from least important to most important to the team: Malcolm Lee, Chase Budinger, Alexey Shved, Brandon Roy, Nikola Pekovic, and Kevin Love. Because of all the injuries, this team has a couple of D-League call-ups that are getting significant playing time. In fact, anybody who is healthy will get playing time on this team.

Key Matchups: 

Deron Williams vs. Luke Ridnour. Advantage: Williams

Ridnour has been one of the few players who has not been injured this year for Minnesota. He is averaging 12 points and 4 assists this year, not bad, but below average for a starting point guard. J.J. Barea will also get time at point guard for Minnesota and he is averaging 11 points and 5 assists. Deron Williams will have a size and quickness advantage against both these players and should have a pretty good game.

Joe Johnson vs. Ricky Rubio. Advantage: Johnson

After a breakout rookie season last year, Ricky Rubio has been nothing short of a disappointment this season. He has only played in 13 games due to injuries and when he has played he has not been impressive. He is only averaging 4 points and 5 assists this year and has yet to reach double figures in either category, something he did frequently last season. Joe Johnson will also have a size and experience advantage tonight. Joe has been playing pretty excellent basketball in January, leading some to consider him the MVP of the Nets, especially after his game on Monday against the Knicks. Expect him to score around 20 again tonight.

Gerald Wallace vs. Andrei Kirilenko. Advantage: Kirilenko

Kirilenko has probably been the MVP this year for the Timberwolves and is one of the reasons why this team has not completely fallen apart. He is averaging 14 points (his most since 2006!), 7 rebounds, and 3 assists this year and has been Minnesota’s most consistent player. I expect Kirilenko to have a very good game against the Nets as he will be trying to impress Mikhail Prokhorov. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him approach a triple-double. Gerald Wallace hasn’t played great since returning from his rib injury but he will probably have to guard Kirilenko tonight.

Reggie Evans vs. Derrick Williams. Advantage: Evans

After being selected with the second pick in the 2011 draft, Derrick Williams has definitely not lived up to expectations. He is only averaging 9 points and 4 rebounds this year and hasn’t improved much from last season. He has been forced into the starting lineup with all the injuries Minnesota has suffered recently. Reggie Evans will not allow him to get many rebounds tonight. Expect Reggie to have a very strong rebounding game against the undersized Timberwolves.

Brook Lopez vs. Greg Stiemsma. Advantage: Lopez

Another player forced into Minnesota’s starting lineup is Greg Stiemsma, a second year undrafted player from Wisconsin. Stiemsma is only averaging 3 points and 2 rebounds in 12 minutes per game this season. However, he is also averaging over 1 block per game, so he is somewhat of a defensive presence. Backing him up will be D-League call-up Chris Johnson, who has played 43 uneventful games in his 3-year NBA career. Johnson has only appeared in 2 NBA games this year. Lopez should have no excuse for not having a great game tonight. I expect him to have at least 20 points and 10 rebounds and hopefully more.

Prediction: Nets 108, Timberwolves 94. 

This is a game that the Nets need to and will win. Minnesota is severely short-handed and doesn’t have nearly the talent that Brooklyn has. The Nets are the hottest team in the NBA right now and even though it may be below 0 degrees in Minnesota, the Timberwolves will be unable to cool Brooklyn off.