Brooklyn Falls 110-102 To The Defending Champs

The Raptors' defense was too much for the Nets to handle.

In a game of catch up the Nets fall to the defending NBA Champion Toronto Raptors 110-102. Brooklyn’s last lead was when they were up 19-17 with 6:50 left in the first quarter as a result of a David Nwaba three pointer. From that point on it was an uphill battle.

Putting the Nets away was a team effort on the part of the Raptors, even though the NBA’s Most Improved Player, Pascal Siakam, went off for 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. He also got three blocks and three steals. However, Siakam was one of five Raptors who scored in double digits, and one of three who recorded a double-double.

Marc Gasol scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Serge Ibaka scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Scoring wise the Nets the Nets didn’t have that bad of a game. They also had five players score in double digits. Taurean Prince was the only one recording a double-double with 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Spencer Dinwiddie led the way with 24 points.

To be fair, even though both teams had multiple players score in double digits, those points didn’t come easily because neither team shot the ball particularly well on Saturday night.

Both teams shot 38% from the field. From behind the arc Brooklyn shot 26.1% and Toronto shot 35.0%.

However, Brooklyn did outrebound the Raptors 72-60, which is notable because the Nets only average 47.9 RPG. So this is the one area where they shined.

In just about every other category though the Nets got beat. Brooklyn turned the ball over 20 times, but this came as a result of the relentless defense that Toronto played the whole 48 minutes, which included 10 steals.

“We played solid defense and helped each other. Our energy was higher,” said Pascal Siakam. “We can’t come in just trying to feed off of our offense. Our defense [has] to be the thing that kind of helps us feel good. We got to feel good when we play defense. When we play good defense we get transition points.”

Siakam was right because the Raptors scored 32 fast break points. They average 19.5 per game.

Another area of the Raptors’ defense that Brooklyn struggled with was blocks. Toronto recorded 10.

“That’s Toronto’s strength. They turn you over. They’re an excellent defensive team,” said Head Coach Kenny Atkinson. “I knew coming in the issue tonight was going to be scoring on these guys and no we didn’t handle the ball well enough.”