# Game 35: New Jersey Nets @ San Antonio Spurs



## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

* January 10th, 2006 - 7:30 PM (Central Time)*
 *New Jersey Nets (19-12)* @ *San Antonio Spurs (26-8)*  


*Previous Meetings:*

N/A

*Projected Starting Lineup: *










PG - Jason Kidd (14.5 PPG - 8.2 APG - 7.0 RPG) 
SG - Vince Carter (25.5 PPG - 6.0 RPG - 4.0 APG)
SF - Richard Jefferson (18.5 PPG - 7.3 RPG - 4.1 APG)
PF - Nenad Kristic (12.4 PPG - 5.8 RPG - 1.0 BLK)
C - Jason Collins (3.6 PPG - 4.0 RPG - 0.7 APG)

*Reserves:*

G - Jeff McInnis (5.5 PPG - 2.0 APG - 1.9 RPG)
F/C - Cliff Robinson (5.4 PPG - 3.2 RPG)
C - Marc Jackson (5.1 PPG - 3.0 RPG)
F - Scott Padgett (4.4 PPG - 3.2 RPG)
PG - Jacque Vaughn (2.7 PPG - 0.7 RPG)
SF - Lamond Murray (3.5 PPG - 1.9 RPG)
G - Zoran Planinic (3.5 PPG - 1.3 RPG)




*Projected Starting Lineup: *










PG - Tony Parker (19.5 PPG - 6.3 APG - 3.9 RPG)
SG - Michael Finley (10.4 PPG - 3.9 RPG - 1.5 APG)
SF - Bruce Bowen (7.8 PPG - 3.7 RPG - 1.5 APG)
PF - Tim Duncan (20.5 PPG - 11.6 RPG - 2.3 BLK)
C - Rasho Nesterovic (5.6 PPG - 4.4 RPG - 1.2 BLK)

*Reserves:*

SG - Manu Ginobili (15.5 PPG - 4.3 RPG - 2.8 APG)
PG - Nick Van Exel (5.5 PPG - 1.8 APG)
F/C - Robert Horry (5.4 PPG - 3.9 RPG)
G/F - Brent Barry (5.2 PPG - 1.8 RPG)
C - Nazr Mohammed (4.8 PPG - 3.8 RPG)
PG - Beno Udrih (2.6 PPG - 1.3 APG)
F/C - Fabricio Oberto (1.8 PPG - 1.9 RPG)



The Nets have won 10 straight games and have catapulted themselves to the top of the Atlantic Division where they will remain for the rest of the season barring injuries. Vince Carter has been on a humongous tear lately, and it seems like he lights the Spurs up quite often. As for the Spurs, Duncan is battling a foot injury and hasn't looked all that great recently. It's going to take a pretty damn good effort to beat them, and my only hope for winning this game is that it's in the SBC Center. Richard Jefferson left New Jersey's last game early, and I honestly haven't heard anything about it since then, so I'm assuming he will play. It's going to take a good effort from everybody to beat this hot team, so hopefully there is some fire and motivation. Manu needs to play a lot of minutes because Finley will get killed by Jefferson when NJ has the ball. I'll be optismistic for once and say we'll win, but I'm not even believing that too much.


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## Dumpy (Jan 6, 2005)

Keys to the game from a Nets' fan's perspective:

(1) *Jefferson's Health. * RJ is often overlooked on a team with Vince Carter, but he is an integral part of the team success. He has been unworldly during the winning streak, hitting something like 58% of his field goal attempts, and his points-per-shot ratio is the highest among the top 50 scorers in the league. But he also got injured in the last game, and is officially listed as "questionable" for tonight's matchup.

(2) *Jason Collins.* Collins, the Nets' key inside defender, has been suffering from a series of leg injuries, and sporatically must sit out most or all of a game. He will be the Nets' first line of defense against Duncan. If Collins is ineffective or reinjures himself, then the game is over.

(3) *The Jason Kidd/Vince Carter tandem.* Obviously. They've been particularly strong in the fourth quarter of close games.

(4) *Bruce Bowen.* Vince can't let Bowen get inside his head. 

(5) *Nenad Krstic.* Krstic, the Nets' young center from Serbia, has had an erratic season. Some of his recent ineffectiveness can possibly be blamed on a wrist injury. Since the Nets' scheduled week off to start the month, he has played better. He'll need to establish himself inside early as a viable threat.

(6) *Lamond Murray/Scott Padgett/Cliff Robinson/Jacque Vaughn.* The Nets' four primary reserves have been taking turns having big games during the winning streak. Someone in this group must step up offensively tonight for the Nets to win. Look for this quartet to open the second quarter with either Carter or RJ. The unit has proven to be more effective playing with Carter. Also, after Jefferson got hurt against Toronto, Murray was placed on the floor alongside Carter and Kidd, one of the few times that we've seen that trio together, and they were surprisingly effective. Normally the Nets play Vaughn with Carter and Kidd when RJ rests. If RJ's minutes are reduced, look for Murray to get another look with J-Kidd and VC to try to recapture that effectiveness. Robinson has been playing a lot of minutes, particularly as Collins can only play about 25 minutes a night. He'll probably be asked to defend the bigger and taller Duncan when Collins is resting. That matchup will be a key as well.

Good luck to Spurs fans and enjoy the game!


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

Dumpy said:


> Keys to the game from a Nets' fan's perspective:
> 
> (1) *Jefferson's Health. * RJ is often overlooked on a team with Vince Carter, but he is an integral part of the team success. He has been unworldly during the winning streak, hitting something like 58% of his field goal attempts, and his points-per-shot ratio is the highest among the top 50 scorers in the league. But he also got injured in the last game, and is officially listed as "questionable" for tonight's matchup.
> 
> ...


wow nice plan and analysis
i dont have much to say but i predict a loss, im not to high on our spurs winning of late


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Thanks for the post Dumpy, much appreciated. I think the Nets' interior defense is going to be the most important key for the Nets, and that doesn't mean just defending Duncan, that means keeping Manu and Parker out of the paint. If the Nets can limit Manu or Parker to a mediocre to bad game, then I think the Nets will win, because Duncan isn't playing all that well lately and there's a slim chance that some other Spur will step up with a big game. 


Should be a good game, hopefully there's no incidents, and it's a competitive and fun game to watch. Good luck.


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> Thanks for the post Dumpy, much appreciated. I think the Nets' interior defense is going to be the most important key for the Nets, and that doesn't mean just defending Duncan, that means keeping Manu and Parker out of the paint. If the Nets can limit Manu or Parker to a mediocre to bad game, then I think the Nets will win, because Duncan isn't playing all that well lately and there's a slim chance that some other Spur will step up with a big game.
> 
> 
> *Should be a good game, hopefully there's no incidents, and it's a competitive and fun game to watch. Good luck*.


I hope so too, it really should be an interesting matchup.


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## NJ+VC (Feb 8, 2005)

Ah, the good ol spurs fans...i gotta say ur the most civil on these boards :angel: 

It'll be a good game, spurs seem unstoppable at home, and im most worried about parker, hes up there with the best in the game at getting into the paint, im pretty sure him and duncan are #1, #2 at points in the paint which is unreal.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

NJ+VC said:


> Ah, the good ol spurs fans...i gotta say ur the most civil on these boards :angel:
> 
> It'll be a good game, spurs seem unstoppable at home, and im most worried about parker, hes up there with the best in the game at getting into the paint, im pretty sure him and duncan are #1, #2 at points in the paint which is unreal.


If you're trying to get repped, it worked! :biggrin: 

You're also rite about Duncan and Parker being #1 and #2 for points in the paint. Atleast last I saw they were.

BTW, has anyone seen the vBookie bet for this game yet? A struggling spurs team gets -9 points against a redhot Nets teams...How is that fair? I don't even know if the spurs will win this game, but if they do I highly doubt it'll be by 9 points!


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Well, the odds makers probably just glanced at the records and based everything off that. The Spurs can barely beat mediocre teams by 9-10 points, so I'm also puzzled as to why they think the Spurs will win by that much. Oh well.


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## VC4MVP (Dec 30, 2005)

Its official RJ is out. I think key 2 nets success is 2 make Tony Parker and Duncan 2 earn points at the line cuz they both shoot bad percentages. Good luck and hope 4 a good exciting game. Go Nets!! :banana:


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## L (Sep 20, 2005)

nets-41
spurs-49


gg so far, cant wait for the second half! :banana:


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

with out jefforson we should of won by alot more, so im a little disipointed but we won so thats all that matters. alot of my worries will begone if we beat the pistons, i dont care how many points but if we beat them at all. if we do i would feel were on the right direction to becomeing back to back champs. soild preformace from duncan and parker and manu. but we did break the freethrow record in a qt for our franchise!


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

It's disappointing that this team gets into these brain dead lapses so much, but at least they pulled it together long enough to get a big enough lead to maintain. Manu was the difference maker tonight. There was a huge difference from when he was off the floor to on the floor, and this is the type of game that if we would have played him 35 minutes we would have won by 10-15. 


Duncan finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds, but him and Parker were damn frustrating tonight. Duncan had the ball flat out taken from his hands 3-4 times (once by that scrub Jacque Vaughn), and Parker was just careless with the ball too. I don't think either one of them has been playing very well lately, and if they can't get motivated for this tough stretch of games ahead then we're in trouble. Dallas is right on our tails and we can't afford to lose 2 out of the next 3 games, all of which are going to be hell to win. Anyway, I'm happy we won, I'm happy with the effort on Vince, but still not all that satisfied with the ball that we're playing.


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## justasking? (Oct 1, 2005)

Congratulations on the win! You have a very talented team and its no surprise that you're doing very well in the league. The game tonight was exciting, but the better team tonight won. Congratulations again! :clap:


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## L (Sep 20, 2005)

congrats on the win!(i expected it to happen).

but the most surprising stats was duncan's FT's.
he made a lot last night.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

Amazing game. I've gada give it up to New Jersey too. They just wouldn't die!


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Popovich was disgusted with the performance last night, I'll have to post the direct quote. He was unquestionably pissed with his team after the game. We keep hearing about Pop yelling at the players and chewing them out at halftime, so is this a matter of the players just not responding, or what? That's pretty much what it sounds like.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

The sad part is, Pop has a knack for taking things like these out on Tony. It's a shame too, cause Tony has just been phenomenal this year!


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