The Nets have not looked like the Nets we were all expecting and seeing in the first two games. They have struggled mightily hitting clutch shots, getting rebounds, and with ball security. Against the Jazz, none of that was a factor. The Nets dominated on every front imaginable. They beat the Jazz 130-96; the Nets came out with an already sizable chip on their shoulder, losing four of their last five, but with the absence of Kevin Durant, the team rose to the occasion in a big way by starting the game on a 22-4 run and never looking back.
Star point guard Kyrie Irving started the game scorching hot as he went a perfect 8/8 from the field to start the game and had 18 points in the first quarter alone, which was more than the entire Jazz team had in the first quarter as they had only 14. Big man Jarrett Allen has now pleaded his case as to why he should start over veteran center DeAndre Jordan by posting only the second 19 point, 18 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks game in Nets history—joining only Net great Kenyon Martin to have ever put up a stat line like that.
When I say the Nets dominated in every statistical category, I mean it. The Nets lead the Jazz in rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, points, points in the paint, field goal percentage, and three-point percentage. Even with four players in double figures, the Jazz could not hang in with the Nets. Donovan Mitchell had 31, 4, and 4, and Rudy Gobert had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, four of which were offensive. The rest of the Jazz starters Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley, and Royce O’Neale, all combine for a measly 22 points.
The Jazz’s cold start of shooting 0/6 from the floor proved fatal as they could not keep up with the Nets high intensity, run and gun play. The Nets led after the first quarter 35-14, and the Jazz had the lead in this game for exactly 0:00. All the Nets wins this season have come by way of a 20+ point victories. If the Nets look like they did last night without Kevin Durant, imagine how good they are going to be when he is COVID-free and itching to get back out there after missing 18 months and a week.
The Nets young role players seemingly do something great every night and tonight was the Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen show. They combined for 43 points while Caris went for 24 points and five assists. Caris picked up the slack majorly off the bench scoring more points than he had minutes in the game, and with Durant scheduled to miss the next three games, and return for the matchup against the Nuggets, be prepared to see a lot more of Caris LeVert going forward.
The Nets handled business against the Jazz at home, winning handily to the tune of 130-96, Kyrie Irving looked spectacular, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert are looking like a special young tandem, and the Nets finally cleaned up their sloppiness by only turning the ball over 12 times and finally, for the first time this season, outrebounded a team. The Nets take on the red hot 7-1 76ers on Thursday night at 7:30 pm.
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