Center is Brooklyn Nets strength in early pre-season

With half the pre-season now in the books --three games, three wins-- it's not Brooklyn's Backcourt that's dominating the opposition but one of the Nets big question marks going into the pre-season that's lighting up the scoreboard. Centers Brook Lopez and Andray Blatche are the team's two leading scorers and rebounders, averaging a combined 35.5 points and 17.3 rebounds a game.

Lopez is averaging 18.5 points and 10 rebounds over two games, while Blatche is averaging 17 points and 7.3 rebounds. Both are shooting better than 55 percent from the floor. Lopez has played 26.5 minutes thus far, Blatche 23.3. The two have not shared significant minutes on the court.

“(He’s) been killing me every day in practice, so to see him out there playing well against other bigs too, that’s a relief for me,” Lopez said after the Wizards game. “He’s going to do big things for us.

The Nets backcourt has put up respectable numbers and not just Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. Johnson is the Nets third leading scorer, at 13.5, shooting 41.7 percent from deep. Williams is next at 12.5 and 7.5 assists. C.J. Watson is also in double figures, at 11.3 points a game. Rounding out the double-digit scorers, Gerald Wallace is averaging 12.5 and Mirza Teletovic 10.0, bringing his three point average up to 28 percent with his 4-for-10 performance vs. the Celtics. Kris Humphries is the Nets third leading rebounder after Lopez and Blatche at 5.5 but has only played 19.5 minutes a game, less than the two centers.

• Blatche continues impressive preseason with Nets - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
• Blatche continues resurgent preseason - Gregory Hrinya - Examiner
• Is Andray Blatche the best backup center in the league? - Howard Megdal - Capital New York