Whoops! With Kevin Garnett resting, Andray Blatche, NOT Reggie Evans will get the start at power forward Tuesday vs. the Celtics. He'll join Shaun Livingston, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce and Brook Lopez. The Nets may also have Jorge Gutierrez back to spell Livingston at the point. He's questionable.
Jason Kidd told reporters he wants to see how Blatche and Lopez work together. Earlier, reporters wrote Evans was likely to get the nod.
Deron Williams (ankle); Tyshawn Taylor (ankle); Jason Terry (knee rehab); Andrei Kirilenko (back spasms) and Tornike Shengelia (knee rehab) remain out. There's no projected rate of return for the rotation players.
One question is how many minutes Kidd will play the starters. Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson played 24 and 27 minutes respectively on Monday. Whether Kidd will want to increase those minutes in the second half of a back-to-back is a question. Shaun Livingston who played 23 minutes is likely to have his minutes reduced with Alan Anderson ready to back him up along with Marko Jaric and possibly Gutierrez. There's some concern that Livingston is playing a lot of minutes. (Livington leads the Nets in overall shooting at 90.9 percent -- not a typo.)
The other question is whether Mirza Teletovic and Chris Johnson will see big minutes. Teletovic now ranks second in scoring in preseason at 14 points per game (behind only Blatche), and first in three point shooting at 43.5 percent. He's just ahead of Chris Johnson, who's shooting 42.9 percent.
For the Celtics, ex-Net Kris Humphries will start at center with MarShon Brooks and Gerald Wallace off the bench. Keith Bogans (sprained thumb) is out.
Brooks admitted Tuesday he asked for a trade from the Nets.
Interesting stuff from MarShon Brooks at shootaround this morning. Told reporters he conveyed before the NBA Draft he wanted out of Brooklyn
— Josh Newman (@Joshua_Newman) October 15, 2013
In fact, Brooks and his agent pushed hard for him to be included in the deal, according to league sources.
- Andray Blatche to start at PF vs. Celtics - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
- Andray Blatche to start in place of Kevin Garnett - Josh Newman - SNY Nets