BROOKLYN - Coming off a terrible road loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday, the Nets were home looking to rebound against the Utah Jazz, one of four winless teams in the NBA entering Monday night.
Any chance they'd let their lackluster performance in Orlando carry over? No. Of course not. They actually "took it out" on the Jazz, just burying them by a score of 104-88.
The Jazz boast a young, long and powerful duo in the middle in former-Net Derrick Favors and 7-footer Enes Kanter, but that didn't stop the Nets from looking to run the offense through Brook Lopez early. They went right at Kanter and Favors, and while Favors got the best of Lopez on the first possession of the game, from there the Nets continued to pound the paint, opening up the perimeter and getting Lopez planted and active early.
In the first quarter alone, the Nets had a total of 16 points in the paint, with Lopez leading the way with 11 points in nine minutes. His dominance continued, as the Nets all but ran away with this one in the first half, carrying a 54-38 lead into halftime. Lopez finished with 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting in 26 minutes.
Brooklyn made sure they wouldn't be out-hustled and caught off guard like they were in Orlando. They were aggressive, active and, most importantly, getting good looks on offense. The offense had that crisp, everybody-touches-the-ball kind of movement, which all started with Lopez owning the paint. It led to open looks for Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson and even Andray Blatche who got nice wide-open mid-range looks.
Mason Plumlee saw some early minutes tonight -- and played well, though the stat-line doesn't necessarily read that way; five points, four rebounds in 17 minutes -- which allowed for Brooklyn to throw different looks at Utah. A front-line of Kevin Garnett, Andrei Kirilenko and Plumlee allowed for them to get active and run, plus gave them enough stretch to pull Kanter, Favors and Rudy Gobert away from the paint.
The Jazz are 0-4 this year, a young team dealing with injuries and, well, "rebuilding." So, this was one of those games they had to win; a loss would have been disastrous. The fact that they dominated the paint and never really let the Jazz into this one was a good sign.
Brooklyn shot 51.3 percent from the floor (shot 59 percent in the first half), forced 22 turnovers, topped the Jazz 25-6 in fastbreak points and scored 58 points in the paint. Success.
It was the first win over Utah for former Jazz players D-WIll and Kirilenko, after a combined eight losses. "It's a rebuilding year for them, but I'm definitely happy to beat them," said Williams.
Next up for the Nets, Friday in Washington against the Wizards.
For more on the Jazz, see: SLC Dunk
- Jazz at Nets - November 5, 2013 - Box Score - NBA.com
- Game Thread: Brooklyn Nets vs. Utah Jazz, 7:30 PM - NetsDaily
- 2nd Half Game Thread: Nets vs. Jazz - NetsDaily
- Jazz vs. Nets: First half (Video) - NBA.com
- KG to Kirilenko (Video) - NBA.com
- Lopez Dunk (Video) - NBA.com
- Jason Kidd on facing the Utah Jazz (Video) - YES Network
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Kirilenko talks about facing his former team (Video) - YES Network
- Garnett talks about win over Jazz (Video) - YES Network
- Nets Post Game Plus: Nets down Jazz (Video) - YES Network
- Jason Kidd on first win coaching Nets (Video) - YES Network
- Lopez Leads Nets in 104-88 Win Over Jazz - AP
- Future Looks Bright for ‘Brooklyn Basketball’ as Nets Rout Jazz - Andrew Keh - New York Times
- Rapid Reaction: Nets 104, Jazz 88 - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
- D-Will relishes win against former club - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
- Kidd, Jefferson reunited again - Ohm Youngmisuk - ESPN New York
- Nets Work to Avoid a Soft Start to the Season - Alex Raskin - Wall Street Journal
- Nets Give Jazz the Blues - Alex Raskin - Wall Street Journal
- Thirteen years later, Richard Jefferson meets his mentor - Dave D'Alessandro - Star-Ledger
- Brook Lopez posts game-high 27 points as Nets blow out Jazz - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
- Deron Williams is slowly getting his legs back and Nets will need them - Filip Bondy - New York Daily News
- Brook Lopez leads Nets to rout of Jazz - Rod Boone - Newsday
- Jason Kidd continues to monitor Deron Williams' minutes - Rod Boone - Newsday
- The Morning After: Hey A.I., Practice was the Nets' Answer - Rod Boone - Newsday
- Brooklyn native Jamaal Tinsley gets chance to play in front of family, friends - Mark Herrmann - Newsday
- Star-loaded Nets need to learn how to be selfish - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
- Ex-Net Favors becomes part of foundation for Jazz - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
- Nets’ Livingston: Hazing less hostile in tight-knit NBA - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
- Kidd connects with Jefferson before home coaching debut - Zach Braziller - New York Post
- Kidd gets first win under belt - George Willis. - New York Post
- Nets silence Jazz in Jason Kidd's Brooklyn debut - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- Nets notes: Richard Jefferson reflects on time spent with Jason Kidd - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- Final Score: Nets 104 Jazz 88 - Brian Erni - SNY Nets
- Nets and Jazz experience role reversals - Gregory Hrinya - Examiner
- Fuming Nets fueled by intense practice in blowout win - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
- Video: BROOKIE MONSTER: ACTIVATED - The Brooklyn Game
- Video: Richard Jefferson Dunks Like It's 2004 - The Brooklyn Game
- Video: Deron Williams Looks Pretty Good, You Guys - The Brooklyn Game
- Utah Jazz instant analysis: Brooklyn's vets too much for the Utah Jazz - David Smith - Deseret News
- Utah Jazz basketball: Jazz fall to Brooklyn Nets 104-88, 0-4 on the season - Deseret News
- Kevin Garnett Still Figuring Out Role in Limited Minutes With New-Look Brooklyn Nets - Ben Watanabe - NESN