Nets' Joe Johnson one-ups Nuggets' Kenneth Faried for game winner

 

After battling hard, the Nuggets lost a heartbreaker to the Nets on a desperation Joe Johnson three. It’s tough to not be proud of the young team after another comeback. I cannot express enough how huge the coaching of Michael Malone has been this season. If you have any negative feelings, just redirect them to positive thoughts about extra ping-pong balls come the draft.

THE RUNDOWN

First Quarter – Starters: Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, Nikola Jokic

After scoring just four points in yesterday’s win against the New York Knicks, Gary Harris came out of the gates firing, doubling his last game’s total in just the first quarter for 8 points on 4-6 shooting.

Harris may never be an All-Star in his career (time will tell), but his game is absolutely perfect for this team. Having a shooting guard who is a knockdown shooter, a lockdown defender and a great off-ball slasher is invaluable in today’s league and may even be just as valuable as the typical “star” player.

Nikola Jokic was playing well and despite logging no assists, he was making his typical cunning passes. Here he made a great look-away pass to Kenneth Faried, but the Manimal simply couldn’t convert on an easy basket:

Despite his play on offense, Malone decided that he didn’t like Jokic’s match-up with Brook Lopez on defense and opted to play Jusuf Nurkic instead. It paid dividends as the Bosnian Beast played some great defense on him, bothering him with his rare combination of girth and mobility:

End of first: Nets up 26-22.

Second Quarter – Starters: Mudiay, Randy Foye, Will Barton, Mike Miller, Nurkic

Nurkic stepped on a Nets player’s foot awkwardly and tweaked his ankle, needing to go back into the locker room in a bad scare. Fortunately he returned but this kept him out of game action until there was just 1:27 left in the quarter. Interestingly enough, in this span Jokic never saw the court. One has to wonder what exactly is going on with Jokic’s minutes lately and whether or not it is a trade deadline exhibition for Joffrey or just Malone playing match-ups.

Faried was all over the floor tonight, scoring 8 points on 4-6 shooting and grabbing 3 boards in the second quarter alone. The Manimal was also locked in defensively and continued to show the all-around game that Malone has brought out of him.

Unfortunately the Nets looked much better than their record indicated and kept the Nuggets score at arm’s length. Nets guard Markel Brown scored a quarter-high 14 points on 4-6 shooting. He averaged 2.9 points per game before tonight.

End of second: Nets up 55-49.

Third Quarter – Starters: Mudiay, Harris, Gallinari, Faried, Jokic

Gallinari and Faried went to town in the quarter, combining for a one-two punch of 20 points on 7-9 shooting. The Nuggets came out fighting hard in the third and it’s a curious question why it always takes a deficit to elicit this effort.

Gallo was in full playmaking mode and that’s when he’s at his best. Love to see his creative passing in motion. Here he is drawing four defenders towards him before dishing it to Nurkic for the easy dunk:

End of third: Nets up 81-78.

Fourth Quarter – Starters: Foye, Harris, Barton, Gallinari, Nurkic

The Nuggets were in the midst of one of their signature furious fourth quarter rallies once again, Faried was making huge plays left and right. Here he is hitting a tough running hook over Lopez:

Denver was not only relentless on the offensive end, but they were locked in defensively with both starting guards making huge defensive plays. Here’s Mudiay reading Shane Larkin and coming up with a nice steal with two minutes left in the game:

Then when things looked grim with Lopez sealing Mudiay in the post, Harris came up with the biggest defensive play of the game, using his natural anticipation and 6-foot 7-inch wingspan to get the steal:

Things were looking great for Denver after Faried converted on an impossibly tough layup to give the Nuggets a two-point lead with under a second to go before Joe Johnson hit a desperation three off the glass. Please don’t watch this if you don’t feel like crying.

Final: Nets win 105-104.

WHERE/WHEN

Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY | Feb. 8th | Regular Season Game 53 (21-32)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Despite a tough loss, Faried was absolutely dominant tonight, barreling through the defense for 22 points on 10-16 shooting to go along with his 13 boards. Pretty numbers for the Manimal but make no mistake, he was getting down and dirty. Here he is launching himself out of bounds to secure the loose ball:

He was also doing a great job protecting the rim, here he is showing Brook Lopez what happens when he comes into the paint with some weak stuff:

Believe it or not, he was even kicking out passes from the paint to the corner! How could I not give star of the night to him after this gorgeous pass to an open Gallinari?

BY THE NUMBERS

Other than Faried, Harris and Gallinari had the best games, Gallo with a game-high 24 points on 7-16 shooting to go with 7 assists, moving the ball beautifully while Harris was the master of finishing possessions with a pristine 17 points going 8-12 from the field.

After having just two combined turnovers in the last two games, Mudiay doubled that number tonight with four bad passes. The rookie was trying to go for the spectacular play all night, attempting several lobs to Faried. One connected but almost got Faried injured on the play. It’s great to see Mudiay trying things and staying aggressive, but he has to learn to pick his spots.

PLAYS OF THE GAME

Barton with a great drive and the double-clutch finish!

Mudiay lobs it up to Faried for a VICIOUS MANIMAL SLAM!

Gallinari with an absolutely gorgeous up-and-under move with the finger roll finish.

Mudiay and Jokic slingshot Faried back into the play after he falls behind.

Faried hitting a RIDICULOUSLY tough layup to give the Nuggets a two-point lead with under a second left in the game:

WHAT’S NEXT

The Nuggets will head over to Detroit to face the Pistons and their all-star center Andre Drummond on Wednesday, February 10th. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. MT.