Last night’s game in Brooklyn against the Kings ended a brutal stretch of six games in nine days for the Nets, and came on the heels of a draining double-overtime victory over the Wizards in Washington.
It was the kind of game where the Nets knew coming in they were going to need production from their entire roster, not just their stars, and that’s exactly what they got.
Thanks to a huge boost from their bench, which outscored Sacramento by a 50-25 margin, the Nets cruised to a 113-93 victory over the Kings in front of a sellout crowd of 17,732 at Barclays Center and improved to 5-1 under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo.
“They were big,” Deron Williams said of the second unit after finishing with 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists and, more importantly, playing just 27 minutes. “We knew before the game we were going to need our bench to come in and have a great game, and they definitely stepped up.”
It was the second unit, one normally anchored by Joe Johnson, that stepped onto the floor to start the second quarter with the Nets holding a 36-31 lead. But rather than playing Johnson, who along with Williams and Brook Lopez had gone more than 40 minutes the night before in Washington, Carlesimo opted to go to MarShon Brooks and Mirza Teletovic to provide him with offense.
The move couldn’t have worked out any better for the Nets (19-15), as Brooks and Teletovic scored a combined 17 of the team’s 19 points while they were on the floor, and helped extend the lead to 55-43 late in the second quarter before Carlesimo finally brought back Williams, Johnson and Lopez after giving them all a lengthy breather.
“It was great,” said Gerald Wallace, who finished with eight points and four rebounds. “We put a lot of energy into [Friday] night, because we knew that was a game we couldn’t lose.
“We didn’t want to lose this one, either, so we talked to those guys and told them bench production was going to be big for us tonight, and they came in and produced. That’s what a team’s for. Guys wait and look for their opportunities, and I think MarShon and Mirza did a great job. They were productive today, and helped us get a win.”
Because of the amount of minutes and effort the starters poured into both Wednesday’s win over the Thunder in Oklahoma City and Friday’s victory in Washington, it wouldn’t have been surprising for them to come out looking like a tired bunch at the end of such a draining stretch of games.
Instead, the Nets got off to a terrific start offensively, moving the ball freely around the court for one wide-open shot after another, allowing them to finish the first quarter with a season-high 36 points and a five-point lead after shooting 15-for-21 (71 percent).
Then, after Carlesimo finally had all five starters on the floor again late in the second quarter, they ran off a quick 10-4 run to end the first half, making the score 65-47 before breezing through the second half. The Nets won comfortably despite a terrific performance from Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, who wound up with 28 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot.
“I just thought we played very well,” Carlesimo said. “We had some guys play big minutes [Friday] night. They were really tired … [but] they still came in with a good attitude, and they really played good.
“For those guys to come in and play the way they played … I have to admit, I did not expect that.”
Since taking over for Avery Johnson a little more than a week ago, Carlesimo has repeatedly said he was only focused on making it through this initial stretch of six games in nine days to begin his tenure.
But after winning five of six, including two of three on the road, and sweeping back-to-backs at both the beginning and end of that stretch, Carlesimo was more than happy with the way his team came through it.
“This was a really tough stretch,” he said. “Everybody in the league gets stretches like this, but it’s not easy to do it. That’s a heck of an effort.”