Almost had it. The Nets fought all the way back from a fourth quarter deficit and tied the game up, but John Henson had a tip in at the buzzer to give the Milwaukee Bucks a 110-108 win on Saturday night. The Nets are going to give their all every night, and as they get more familiar with one another, they'll pull out some of these close contests.
Coming in on Halloween night will be the Chicago Bulls. Chicago had an awful 2015-2016 and retooled their roster. They're off to a nice start and are coming off of a dominant victory at home against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.
Where to follow the game
YES Network (and NBATV for the out of towners) on TV. WFAN 101.9 FM on radio. Tip off after 7:30.
Injuries
Greivis Vasquez left Saturday's game due to a sore right ankle. His availability for this one is unknown. Randy Foye is still dealing with a sore right hamstring and his availability is unknown as well.
Nothing doing for Chicago.
The game
In off the court news, the Nets picked up the third year options for Chris McCullough and Rondae Hollis Jefferson. The Bulls did the same for Doug McDermott, Bobby Portis, and Jerian Grant.
Brook Lopez should be feeling extra spry this evening. He was given Saturday night off and probably won't play both ends of back-to-backs this year. Guiding Lopez through the year is one of the Nets' biggest goals and it's going to be interesting to see how his minutes and appearances are managed. He'll be facing his brother (and notorious mascot hater) Robin Lopez. RoLo is replacing Joakim Noah at Center and brings a lot to the table. He's a good rebounder, solid low post defender, and a heady passer. No one’s quite sure what to make of the Bulls, but it does promise to be interesting.
And RoLo has already started the social media war with his brother...
Robin Lopez on facing twin bro Brook on Mon: “I think everybody knows that I'm the prettier twin and I'm the more charismatic twin." #Bulls
— Mike McGraw (@McGrawDHBulls) October 30, 2016
Rajon Rondo's journey across the NBA has taken him to the Windy City. He's with the Bulls on a two year deal and is looking to rebuild his reputation after disappointing stints in Dallas and Sacramento. The book on him is still the same. Jeremy Lin had a mediocre game on Saturday and is looking to put a good game together. When Lopez sits or is having a poor game, Lin will have to pick up the scoring load. He’s shown himself to be a capable scorer when called upon throughout his career, so he should be up to the task. With Vasquez hobbled, Isaiah Whitehead should see a lot of time backing up Lin. Kenny Atkinson likes his game a lot and the rookie will get a good amount of time to impress Nets management.
Something else to watch for: Jeremy Lin vs. Dwyane Wade. Here’s a bit of video from last year’s playoff action. Lots of jawing and pushing.
Jimmy Butler is the focal point of the Bulls, and figures to be a difficult matchup for Hollis Jefferson. Butler is the Bulls’ best player and person that will be most responsible for whatever success they have this season. Butler can post up, drive to the rim, and does a good job of setting his teammates up. RHJ’s shot hasn’t been there one week into the season, so focusing mainly on his matchup with Butler should be his main job tonight.
Player to watch: Dwyane Wade
Yeah, it's still weird seeing Wade in a Bulls jersey. He and the Miami Heat had a divorce in the offseason and Wade decided to join his hometown team. Two games into his tenure, he's looked pretty good. Wade has never been much of a three point shooter (in fact, the four he made against the Celtics is tied for the third most he’s ever made in a single game), but if he can shoot around 33 percent from deep, it can help create room for his teammates. Only problem with that is Wade’s a career 28.6 percent shooter from deep for his career. This won’t be easy.
The duo of Bojan Bogdanovic and Sean Kilpatrick will look to make Wade work hard on defense tonight. Bojan was the lead scoring option over the summer and it's carried over to the NBA season. With the new offense that emphasizes three point shooting and an uptempo pace, Bogdanovic will continue to get a bunch of good scoring opportunities. Kilpatrick has played well coming off the bench and is someone Atkinson is starting to rely on in late game situations. If this game is close, it’ll be interesting to see what lineups are out there for the Nets.
From the Vault
Spend Halloween with Jazzy Jeff and the Prince.
More reading: Blog a Bull
- Brooklyn Nets Game Notes - NBA.com
- Chicago Bulls Game Notes - NBA.com
- Bulls vs. Nets - Yahoo! Sports
- Bulls visit Nets looking to remain unbeaten - STATS LLC
- Nets coach wants to hug big forward Bojan Bogdanovic - Brian Lewis - New York Post
- Nets putting up good fight in fourth quarter - Greg Logan - Newsday
- Nets Take Page From Spurs’ Book in Limiting Brook Lopez - Alex Raskin - Wall Street Journal
- Nets’ Curious Treatment Of Lopez Suggests Trade Is Ahead - Steve Lichtenstein - WFAN
- Bulls adjusting nicely to Rajon Rondo's strong leading ways - K.C. Johnson - Chicago Tribune
- Monday's matchup: Bulls at Nets - Chicago Tribune
- Rondo has given Bulls plenty to talk about - Mike McGraw - Chicago Daily Herald
- Five things to watch: Bulls square off against Nets - Mike Strotman - Comcast Sports Net