I won’t lie. I went to this game because I ran out of gum, and also because I wanted to see the Warriors.
First Quarter
–Merry Christmas, youth is served. For the third straight night, Josh Boone and “Seansational” (as coined by the Sez) are both starting.
–You’ll probably see the Kidd behind the back feed to Carter on Sportscenter. It was really good in person, too.
–Two blocks for Sean Williams on the same possession. The kid has timing like Omar Little.
–The Nets start out up 17-6 and Vince Carter has started 2-8. He’s on pace to shoot 16-64. Taking all things into consideration (the Warriors are 15-5 in their last 20, the Nets are struggling to find themselves, etc.) this is all very baffling.
–Malik Allen’s first attempt from the field would suggest that his jumpshot, along with the weather, dropped in temperature after leaving Miami.
Second Quarter
–Two straight Nets’ possessions are punctuated by pretty bounce passes leading to dunks. People are surprised. The first was especially nice. Marcus Williams followed a Boki miss and found said Boki on the baseline; instead of rushing to the tin to atone for his miss, said Boki found Boone underneath for the uncontested finish. It was a perfect triangle of bounce-passing, almost, dare I say, equilateral (?!?!?!).
–Baron Davis has missed 7 straight shots.
–Josh Boone is officially beasting. Along those lines, Josh Boone is officially official. Rebounds, putbacks, and-1’s, blocked shots, running the floor, filling the lanes, finishing in transition, ovations when going to the bench…all good signs of maturation.
–Boone has missed putbacks on consecutive possessions. The fact that he’s missing multiple chippies is disconcerting, though not abnormal. More importantly, however, the effort is there. Then, after grabbing a hard-fought defensive board, Boone crashes to the floor and a pained look comes across his face. Again, the effort is nice to see.
–Buoyed by a spark provided by Monta Ellis and a Baron Davis 3, the Warriors are within 1, 62-61. 7+ left in the period.
–J-Kidd follows a 3 with a sick baseline fadeaway. The bulge is pushed back to 5, 69-65.
–Monta Ellis moves his feet like Speed Racer moves his mouth: fast. He runs fast like Brazilian girls talk fast. I’m tempted to say he runs in Portuguese.
–Things you don’t see everyday: Jason Kidd called for a goal-tend.
Fourth Quarter
–Nets fans boo Jason Collins now. After Matt Barnes flagrant fouls him, Collins goes to the line for two and, after missing the first–which brings out the boos–he banks in the second. Then he makes this barely noticeable gesture which seems to say, “Boo me all you want, but I know more about help defense than you’ll ever know—and what you don’t know could fill libraries…but seriously, though, stop booing me. I’ve been on the Nets for six years and we’ve made the playoffs all six years. It’s not my fault they offered me so much money. Stop hating. I’m a nice guy who works hard and doesn’t cause problems in the locker room. Seriously, stop booing. Where are we New York?”
–A Baron Davis 3 brings the Warriors within 1, 89-88. Jefferson responds.
–Another BD 3 gives the Warriors there first lead since the very early going. After another turnover, BD misses on a drive, but Biedrins cleans up the mess. 95-92, Gully State. I can’t believe it took them that long to find their swag.
–Kidd finds RJ on the break. 95-94.
–Dubious charge called on the Boston Snackbar (please excuse the fact that he goes by like 37 different names in each Game Notes column). Al Harrington: floptastic. The fans–well, those that are here–are angry and there’s finally some life in the building.
–RJ drives baseline and finds VC in the corner for 3. Wet. The place explodes (relatively speaking). RJ and VC engage in a generic man-hug celebration. There’s still 24.6 on the clock.
–Apparently, Harrington has flopper’s karma, as he knocks Boki down and gets called for the offensive foul. Free throws made. Game won.
Call this the Josh Boone game. 19 and 13. Impressive. Vince Carter had 9 turnovers, which is stunning because I can only remember a few off the top of my head. Even more amazing, he had 9 turnovers and it doesn’t even matter because for the second game in a row he hit a dagger. As for the Warriors, 14-39 combined from the floor for BD, Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington really kills the excitement and spontaneity generated by their offense. I won’t stop watching them on league pass though. This game felt more like a blip than a trend.
