G2 Orlando Magic vs Brooklyn Nets

Game Thread 132

Beautiful Artwork by Alex Kim, @akimdesigns

 

With Jeremy Lin successfully underwent surgery to fix the ruptured patella tendon, the Nets will host the first home game against the Orlando Magic.

Crabbe will be the new starter to replace Jeremy. Unless the Nets fixes the defensive lapses that allowed 140 points in the first game against the Pacers, the Magic will be a tough matchup and a win would be tough to come by. The Magic won the first game 116-109 against the Heat

ESPN Game Preview

The Nets confirmed what many suspected Thursday morning, making Lin the second player to go down for the season with a serious injury after Gordon Hayward was injured in Boston’s season-opening loss at Cleveland Tuesday.

Now comes the difficult part of moving on and trying to get wins while Lin recovers.

Unfortunately for the Nets, they’re familiar with lengthy absences by Lin but this time they’re hoping their roster is better equipped to handle it.

“We’ll miss from a competitive standpoint, his leadership standpoint,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters at Thursday’s practice. “We’ll call it what it is — it’s a big blow.”

En route to 62 losses last season, Lin missed 46 games with two lengthy absences because of a hamstring injury. During those absences, the Nets were 7-34 but D’Angelo Russell was on the Los Angeles Lakersthen and depth at point guard was lacking.

Russell scored 30 points in his Brooklyn debut after being acquired for Brook Lopez in the offseason. He made 12 of 22 shots, including four 3-pointers as the Nets made 12 of 30 3-pointers, marking the 58th time the Nets attempted at least 30 3-pointers since Atkinson began coaching the team last season.

While the Nets continued hoisting 3-pointers, they also continued struggling defensively. Although their defensive rating improved toward the end of last season, Brooklyn allowed 52 percent shooting in the season opener.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do; a lot of work to do,” Russell said. “As you can see we can score points. It’s the little things — defense, rebounding, transition, little things that’ll get us over the hump.”

Last season, the Nets allowed at least 50 percent shooting in 22 games and lost each time. Last season, the Nets allowed at least 120 points 19 times and lost 18 of those games.

Orlando is looking to win its first two games for the first time since 2012-13 after emphasizing defensive improvement during the preseason.

The Magic began the season with a 116-109 win over the Miami HeatWednesday. Orlando gave up 37 points in the opening quarter and held the Heat to 38 percent shooting in the final 36 minutes.

Perhaps just as important, the Magic won after blowing a 17-point lead by executing on both ends. Orlando forced Miami to miss nine of 11 shots in a span of about two minutes down the stretch while Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic rescued them offensively by combining for nine straight points.

 

Let’s hope and pray the Nets can continue building their chemistry playing together in their 2nd regular season game and be healthy throughout the season. 

Lin_LINE_LetsGo

Game link

Recent Posts
[rpwe limit=”4″ thumb=”true”]
By psalm234