2012-2013 Brooklyn Nets: Basketball in the Borough

2012-2013 Brooklyn Nets: Basketball in the Borough

Ever since the 1977-1978 basketball season the Nets franchise was known as the New Jersey Nets as they moved out of New York following a solid stint in the American Basketball Association. However, as their time in New Jersey wound down it became apparent that the team would have to move once more. After making a couple of NBA Finals appearances in the 2000’s, the Nets experienced a few significant changes, starting with the ownership of the team. Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov submitted a bid to buy the Nets on September 2009 for $700 Million. For the 2012-2013 the Nets would establish a new identity for themselves as they moved to the borough of Brooklyn.

In the 2012-2013 NBA season the Brooklyn Nets went 49-33, finishing 5 games behind their in-city rivals the New York Knicks in the Atlantic Division. The Nets went 26-15 at their new home of the Barclays Center and 23-18 on the road, which marked their first ever winning record on the road in franchise history. The Nets went 11-5 in divisional play. With the exception of December the Nets played solid basketball through each month of the regular season as they went 11-4 in November, 11-4 in January, 6-5 in February, 8-7 in March and 7-2 in April.

Point guard Deron Williams was an efficient scoring threat who directed traffic for his teammates. Williams had 1,476 total points with 604 assists and 75 steals, making 169 of 447 3-point shots and 317 of 369 free throws. Center Brook Lopez had 1,437 total points, 512 rebounds and 154 blocks, making 297 of 392 free throws.

Shooting guard Joe Johnson was acquired by the Nets in a trade on July 2, 2012 which in turn sent Anthony Morrow, Jordan Farmar, DeShawn Stevenson, Jordan Williams, Johan Petro and a lottery protected draft pick to the Atlanta Hawks. Johnson greatly rewarded the Nets with solid play on the court as he had 1,170 total points and 253 assists, making 148 of 395 3-point shots and 132 of 161 free throws.

Center Andray Blatche was known as “Bulletproof” and his game would often reflect that nickname as he had 843 points and 86 steals. Point guard Charles Akeem Watson, who was better known by teammates as “C.J.”, had 543 points and 1651 assists, making 88 of 214 3-point shots and 71 of 91 free throws. Small forward and power forward Gerald Wallace had 2 nicknames, which were “Crash” and “G-Force”, and he was formerly an imposing threat with the Charlotte Bobcats just years prior to his arrival in Brooklyn. Wallace had 531 points, 181 assists and 97 steals, making 46 of 163 3-point shots and 121 of 190 free throws.

The change of scenery from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York proved to be so significant a change that both players and management realized what kind of a gem they had in a sports market like Brooklyn. Basketball in the borough proved to be an overwhelming success as fans would file in to watch the Nets play. Brooklyn had been without a franchise in any of the 4 major professional sports since the Brooklyn Dodgers of Major League Baseball left for Los Angeles at the end of the 1957 season.

The Nets were a team on the court that preferred to grind out games for as long as possible, and proof of this was how they handled games that went into overtime. In regular season games that went into overtime the Nets went a perfect 5-0. The Nets eventually went on an impressive 7-game winning streak which began on January 2, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 110-93. This streak ended on January 15 with a 113-106 win over the Toronto Raptors.

The Eastern Conference playoffs would only be a 1-round experience for the Brooklyn Nets as they faced the Chicago Bulls. Though they played the Bulls tough through 7 games, the Bulls eliminated the Nets 4 games to 3. The Nets took the opening game of the series, winning Game 1 on April 20 by the score of 106-89 at the Barclays Center. Deron Williams had 22 points, 7 assists and 3 steals, making 9 of 15 field goal shots. Brook Lopez had 21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks, making 7 of 15 field goal shots and 7 of 7 free throws. Though he didn’t score many points in this series, power forward Reggie Evans stayed trued to his nickname of “The Collector” as he collected a bunch of rebounds. Along with 5 points and 2 assists Evans collected 13 rebounds.

Dropping the next 3 games of the series the Nets had to win Game 5 on April 29, and they did just that, beating the Bulls 110-91 at the Barclays Center. Lopez had 28 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists, making 11 of 20 field goal shots. Williams had 23 points, 3 rebounds and 10 assists. Evans continued to collect a bunch of rebounds as he collected 12 of them in this game to go with 4 points and 2 steals.

In Game 6 on May 2 at the United Center in Chicago the Nets forced a Game 7 by winning 95-92. Williams had 17 points, 2 rebounds and 11 assists, making 6 of 8 free throws. Joe Johnson also had 17 points along with 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, making 7 of 13 field goal shots. Lopez also had 17 points along with 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Evans only had 2 points but collected 15 rebounds.

Realizing that they had already made a successful relocation to a market that would appreciate their contributions, the Brooklyn Nets were set to compete in the NBA playoffs for the next few seasons. Basketball in the borough was in Brooklyn to stay.