LaMarcus Aldridge shines in Nets debut as Brooklyn blows up Charlotte, 111-89

It was all Nets and a real Brooklyn blowout Thursday night.

Without James Harden and Blake Griffin, the Nets leaned on LaMarcus Aldridge and he shone in his debut for the Nets as Brooklyn beat Charlotte, 111-89. With the win, the Nets remain atop the East with a 34-15 record and have now won 20 of their last 23 games and seven straight home wins. The Nets are now 20-6 at Barclays Center for the season.

“It was a great victory. One of the best starts maybe since before the break so that was positive. It’s a very good team. We obviously shot the ball well, but we defended, ”said Steve Nash after the game. “We got into people and our communication was great, we bounced back and took care of business. Proud of the guys. It was a tough game back to back – a little tough here and we had a great week.

Facing a well-rested but shorthanded Hornets team, Aldridge took the start on his Nets debut and did not disappoint. The 6’11 ”player played his game and integrated quite well with his new teammates as he finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block in 30 minutes. He was also +22 plus / minus, his best number in almost a year and a half. It was Aldridge’s first game since March 1 and his new head coach was surprised by his game after a month of absence.

“He did it,” Nash said when asked if Aldridge surprised him. “It’s not easy to do this type of layoff and try to stay in shape. There is a real difference between playing basketball and staying in shape. It looked in good shape and it was sharper than I thought it would be with so much time. I was impressed. “

Jeff Green had a big game as the Nets’ “voice of reason” finished with 21 points, a team-high, with eight rebounds and two assists in 31 minutes of play. Kyrie Irving, who was the only one member of the Big Three available, finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in 34 minutes.

Landry Shamet caused a stir upon his return after a five-game absence with a sprained right ankle. The 24-year-old played 21 minutes on the bench, scoring 17 of 5 of 7 points in through shooting – which led to the bench scoring. Tyler Johnson followed with 15 points on 5 of 7 shots from depth in 22 minutes on the bench.

DeAndre Jordan remained the only Net available who didn’t play in the resounding victory.

“I’ve spoken to him before and told him we need to incorporate LaMarcus. He might not play tonight. I didn’t want to throw him in there as a veteran at the end of the game, ”Nash said. “His mind was great. I told DJ – to play or not to play, he’s going to stay ready, have a good attitude and he agreed. Tonight he had a terrific attitude and support for his teammates as we all try to play for something bigger than us and commit to another. I was really proud of him for taking that and giving LaMarcus the opportunity to be part of the team.

When asked if Jordan will stay in the rotation, Nash said he wants his big veteran to stay ready with the loaded center frontcourt that will be even more loaded with the return of Kevin Durant, expected next week.

As for Charlotte, who falls to 24-23 on the season, was led by Gordon Hayward, who finished with 13 points in 29 minutes while Devonte Graham also contributed 13 points in 21 minutes.

Nash and the Nets pushed to start games on a high note and everything was Nets in the first quarter.

Brooklyn started their offense early, forging an early 15-6 lead led by Green with six points as the Hornets missed 13 of their first 15 shots. The Nets continued to stack it, increasing their lead to 21 to finish the first as it was a full team effort, but their defense was the main story as the first quarter was the best defensive performance of the first by the Nets. Nets all season. Charlotte at 4 of 23 in total and a rough 1 in 10 in depth.

The Nets continued their assault on both sides of the pitch, highlighted by their dominant defense, as everything turned out like Brooklyn as the team led their offense through Aldridge. The seven-time All-Star took smart readings and displayed his veteran IQ. The big 6’11 ”finished the first half with nine points, six rebounds and five assists in 17 minutes of 3 of 7 in total. As Aldridge got comfortable, Shamet looked confident scoring 14 of 4 of 5s to three in 12 minutes. Brooklyn was leading by 29 at one point in the second.

Charlotte woke up after a tough first period, beating the Brooklyn 37-36 in the second, but the Nets kept pace, finishing the second with a 20-point lead behind a stellar team effort. Brooklyn had three double-digit players at the break and shot 55.3% overall and 59.1% from deep.

Brooklyn opened the second half in a 12-2 run to extend their long lead to 30 – scoring Game 5 held a lead of over 30 points this season – all of which have been at Barclays. The Nets kept the Hornets at 65 points in the three quarters, scoring the second fewest opposing points allowed in the three quarters this season. To complete their defense, Brooklyn headed for the final 12 minutes by shooting over 50% of the ground (50.0% of the ground and 51.5 percent of depth).

The Hornets did not leave as the team started fourth in a 7-0 run while the Nets did not attempt to shoot during that span leading Nash to call a time out with his team. nursing a 20 point cushion. As Charlotte continued to play hard until the final whistle, the team suffered a heavy blow as Malik Monk, who was a valuable player off the bench, sustained a sprained right ankle and left. the match six minutes from time.

In the end, Nash unleashed the bench (Chris Chiozza, Alize Johnson, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Reggie Perry while Bruce Brown stayed on the ground, holding a 21-point lead with 4:01 to go and finished the game. Johnson, who had 15 rebounds in his Nets debut last week, tallied five against Charlotte.

Now, let’s dive into a movie.

The cinema room

Hey, then.

Remember how “concerned” the anonymous GMs would have been about the buyout market? Well, uh. LaMarcus Aldridge’s opening night performance certainly didn’t allay those concerns.

We know what Aldridge brings on paper; he’s a lingering post-up threat who can credibly space the floor in corners and over the break during pick-and-pops. In his early days, he was force-fed LOADS of post-up touches. The results were vintage.

Where the 35-year-old exceeded expectations was as a playmaker. He has done several strong reads of the publication, including the search for the traveling Bruce Brown for his trademark float.

(Brown, of course, had struggled until Thursday’s game while being confined to starting units that contained another non-shooter DeAndre Jordan. He had 14 points on 7 shots against the Hornets. Basketball is too. simple sometimes!)

And here, Aldridge gives Jeff Green a dime after feeling Uncle Jeff’s man’s double team, Bismack Biyombo, on his shoulder.

In defense, Aldridge has shown real signs of strain. While the switchable claims may be a farce at this point in our times, Aldridge has repeatedly affected shots to the rim while still being stuck in a drop blanket. He’s a big body with strong instincts that can scare guys who dare challenge him to the basket. Although Charlotte’s big chunks, PJ Washington, provided a more difficult test for Aldridge with three-point abilities, Aldridge held on in defense as a whole. This in itself is a victory for the Nets.

The buyback market may never be the same …

LaMarcus Aldridge seems really happy …

LaMarcus Aldridge spoke about his new home, Brooklyn, New York, and the basketball team that now uses his expertise and services. And call us crazy, but he seems really happy to be here.

“I feel like it now,” Aldridge said of the Net. “I really had fun there. These guys are great. They touched me. It’s a bunch of good guys who just want to win and play basketball. So I think it makes it easier for everyone. They just let me play my game. These guys – they do their thing, and it’s just easy for me. It’s only a game but it was really cool.

Oh, but he hadn’t finished …

“Ah man, they were great,” Aldridge said of his new teammates. “I hit my first free throws and everyone applauded me. It was very nice. Everyone is my family. Everyone encouraged me and happy for me.

#Culture has never left the Nets locker room; it has just changed its name and matured.

Kyrie Irving gives superb soundtrack on LaMarcus

Considering this is LaMarcus LaNight, it’s fitting that we close with a few words from the ever-caring Kyrie Irving on her new starting center. The written words do this one justice. It is better to have audio sound instead.

The point Irving makes about Aldridge’s post-ups being a different form of attack to change the pace – rather than just getting out of the screen and the reels quickly, quickly, and quickly – is so important. It’s like they always say: there is more than one way to skin a cat, and there is more than one speed to chase a hornet.

On the broader issue of bringing new players into the rotation, Irving said the Nets have a culture that puts responsibility at the heart of their action.

“You know how NBA culture plays out. If a team doesn’t get along, they’re going to make up a whole bunch of things and here we don’t want this bickering and all this nonsense in our locker room. We are literally dedicated to performing the basketball craft at a very high level for each other because we want to see each other win.

“I think we’ve all won enough individually. We have a few champions in the squad, but now we want to see others have the same mindset, the same championship mentality, and then illustrate them. It’s one thing to say it: everyone has discussions after the games, let’s do it, but the culture that is being built is that of responsibility, of keeping each other up to that standard, and what not. is not easy, my brother. It is never easy. You have to be uncomfortable, and there are conversations that are uncomfortable, things that happen throughout, and you just have to be able to be resilient and you have to persevere.

Joe Harris back to 4th all-time in 3-point shooting

A hot shoot of late has once again placed Joe Harris near the top of all-time 3-point shooting percentage, putting him behind only Steve Kerr, Hubert Davis and Seth Curry … and Curry slipped a little lately, at least by Curry family standards. He’s only shooting 42.4% this season while Harris is 48.9%.

Kerr might be out of reach, but Curry and Hubert Davis could be on hand.

As Sponge Bob might say …

By Will Hanley.

And after

Brooklyn will be back in action on Easter Sunday when the team travels to Windy City to host the Chicago Bulls. The game is expected to tip at 2:00 p.m. ET.

For a different perspective, check out At The Hive – our sister site covering the Charlotte Hornets.