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Walker too much for Brooklyn as Hornets defeat Nets, 99-95

By Anthony Puccio
Brooklyn Nets

They came. They fought. But they lost.

Using a 30-point effort from Kemba Walker, the Charlotte Hornets (4-1) defeated the Brooklyn Nets (2-4), 99-95, Friday at Barclays Center. The Nets played their first game without Jeremy Lin, who will be out for at least two weeks.

Coming off a 34-point effort vs. Detroit, Brook Lopez looked to be in for another huge night with 10 points in the first quarter. He finished with 18 on 7-of-17 shooting. Considering how dominant he looked early, 18 was a disappointment.

Still, the Nets led by 13 in the first half behind the lead of Lopez. Charlotte, however, came storming back with a 16-4 run and outscored the Nets 30-20 in the third quarter.

Charlotte made the adjustment at half. They doubled Lopez every time he touched the ball, forcing him to pass it out and let other guys score. With Lin out and Bogdanovic struggling, the Nets were extremely limited with their options.

Heading into the fourth, they trailed by three...

Marvin Williams -- who was 1-of-12 from the field — nailed a huge 3-pointer to put Charlotte up by five with 1:05 remaining.  The Nets needed an answer out of a timeout. So, they went to Lopez… from 3-point range. It clanked off and the rim.

Then after a huge defensive stop, the Nets called another timeout. It resulted in a Trevor Booker missed 3-pointer. Safe to say the Nets were sloppy with the play calling late, but it’s not the reason why they lost.

They hit on just 9-of-36 3-pointers, while shooting 40 percent overall from the field.

When it wasn’t Lopez, it was Sean Kilpatrick, who had 19 points off the bench. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had his best game of the young season by far with 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals. Like RHJ, Trevor Booker had another gritty game with a double double of 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Bojan Bogdanovic was put in position to step up on numerous occasions, especially late in the game. He simply didn’t have it. He scored 14 points on a horrid 4-of-17 shooting.

It was another good effort for the Nets who played without its leader in Jeremy Lin and relied on their rookie Isaiah Whitehead to handle the point. They fought until the very end against another solid team in Charlotte, but it still stings regardless. These are winnable games, at least for now.

Brooklyn boy gets the start

Coney Island native Whitehead got the start with both Jeremy Lin and Greivis Vasquez out. Despite turning the ball over three times, Whitehead handled his own and scored eight points and dished out three assists with two steals and one blocked shot.

Next up: Minnesota Timberwolves in Brooklyn on Tuesday

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