Reggie Evans

After two uninspired games, the Brooklyn Nets looked great against the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night in Brooklyn. The Nets won the game, 104-83, led by 17 points and 24 rebounds from Reggie Evans and 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks from Brook Lopez. The Nets’ starters did not need to play a single minute in the fourth quarter. Nick Young led the Sixers with 18 points off the bench, although many of those came in garbage time.

This game was never close. The Nets got off to a quick start tonight, led by, yep, you guessed it, Reggie and Brook. Reggie had a double-double while Lopez had 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks in the first quarter alone and the Nets led by 13. Although the bench struggled a little bit in the second quarter, the starters came back in to close out the quarter strong and the Nets led by 18 at the half. The third quarter was more of the same. The Nets dominated the boards and points in the paint and continued to play good defense. In the fourth, the bench prevented a Sixers comeback and the Nets won easily.

Here are some fun rebounding stats from this game: Reggie Evans outrebounded the entire Sixers team through 3 quarters. That is the second time this season he has done that against Philadelphia. Reggie Evans outscored all but 1 Sixer player. He is averaging under 5 points per game this year. The Nets had 2 fewer offensive rebounds than Philadelphia had defensive rebounds and outrebounded Philadelphia 67-34, nearly doubling them.

For a box score of this game, click here. 

Player grades and notes: 

Reggie Evans: A+

Reggie did it all tonight. He was very aggressive in the first quarter, even on offense, which set the tone for the game. He out-rebounded the entire Sixers team through 3 quarters and outscored any one Sixers player. The Nets got Reggie for very little in the offseason and he has had a huge impact on the team.

Gerald Wallace: D

Wallace is still lacking lots of confidence even after talking to the media about it. He did not score tonight in 26 minutes, only had 3 rebounds and 1 assist, and let multiple passes slip right through his hands. He is not aggressive at all and is never looking for his shot. Although Wallace should not be the main offensive weapon for this team, they need more than nothing from him. Nothing is what they got tonight.

Brook Lopez: A+

Lopez was overshadowed by Reggie Evans, but Brook still played an excellent game. After getting outplayed by Spencer Hawes in their last meeting, Lopez crushed Hawes tonight. Brook finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks and he shot 13-22 from the field. He also held Hawes to just 7 points and 6 rebounds. Lopez couldn’t have played much better than he did tonight.

Deron Williams: B+

Deron did not score in the first half, but didn’t need to with how well Lopez and Evans were playing. He did score all 11 of his points in the third quarter to help put the game away. He only had 4 assists, but the Nets did not shoot very well on jump shots. Many of their points were second chance points that did not have an assist.

Joe Johnson: B

Similar to Deron, Joe also had 11 points, but did score his points in the first half. Joe looked better than he had looked since he got back from his injury.

The Nets will be back in action tomorrow night when they head up to Boston to face the Celtics. FRWD will have full coverage of that game.

Deron Williams, Spencer Hawes, and Brook Lopez

After an unimpressive win over the Bobcats on Saturday, the Brooklyn Nets (44-32) will host the Philadelphia 76ers (31-45) for the final time Tuesday night. After their season high 8-game road trip, the Nets returned home and lost to the extremely shorthanded Bulls by 2 and then needed a second half rally to beat the last place Bobcats. The Sixers have not had Andrew Bynum all season and have really struggled without him. They got blown out in Miami on Saturday.

These teams have already played 3 times this season with the Nets winning 2 of the 3 games. However, the Sixers did win the latest matchup in Philadelphia. Spencer Hawes was very good in that game, finishing with a double-double, and the Nets were unable to get stops down the stretch. It was one of the worst defensive efforts of the season for Brooklyn.

Philadelphia is 7-7 in their last 14 games, which is not bad, but they have played a lot of bad teams during that time. They have also lost to some bad teams, including Charlotte, last week. The Sixers have not been very good against +.500 teams this season.

Injuries: For the Nets, Keith Bogans is out with a sore back. Joe Johnson is also a game-time decision. The Nets’ priority is getting him healthy for the playoffs, so he will probably rest unless he is close to 100%. Marshon Brooks and C.J. Watson will get more minutes if Joe can’t play. The Sixers are healthy with only Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson out.

Key matchups:

Deron Williams vs. Jrue Holiday. Advantage: Williams

Holiday had a very good first half of the season but has been inconsistent lately. He has scored in single-figures in 2 of his past 3 games. Deron Williams has scored 30 in his last 2 games and has played like much more of an all-star than Holiday has since the all-star break.

Marshon Brooks vs. Evan Turner. Advantage: Turner

Marshon Brooks will probably start if Joe Johnson and Keith Bogans are out. Marshon had a career night in his only start this year, but that was against arguably the worst defense in the league, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Turner has played well lately, averaging about 18 points per game in his last 6. He never seems to play very well against the Nets, but if Marshon is guarding him, he might have a nice game.

Gerald Wallace vs. Damien Wilkins. Advantage: Wallace

Wilkins has played well over the last month for Philadelphia. The Nets better hope that Gerald Wallace is the better player in this matchup, seeing that Wilkins is a mediocre NBA journeyman while Gerald is still owed $30 million after this season. There have recently been stories about Wallace’s confidence issues. He needs to get these figured out by the time the playoffs start. He has shot terribly from the field over the last month or two.

Reggie Evans vs. Thaddeus Young. Advantage: Young

Young is a player that always seems to cause the Nets problems because they don’t have a player who can match up well with him. I expect him to have another 20-10 game tonight. Reggie Evans has been on a rebounding tare lately and is consistently getting at least 10 rebounds in every game. He has already had a 20+ rebound game against the Sixers this year.

Brook Lopez vs. Spencer Hawes. Advantage: Lopez

When Philadelphia beat Brooklyn last month, Spencer Hawes was one of the main reasons why. For some reason, nobody on the Nets was able to keep him off the boards  and he finished with a 24 point-10 rebound game. Brook Lopez needs to play better defense on Hawes tonight.

Prediction: Nets 93, Sixers 88. 

Neither team is playing very well right now and neither team seems very motivated. The Nets are playing at home, where they haven’t played all that well recently, but have a chance to get back on track before the playoffs start. I think this will be a close, poorly played, and ugly game, but the Nets will find a way to win.