Cavs LeVert Scores 19 Points Off The Bench
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Shara Talia Taylor
Schroder Shipped Off To Golden State
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
The Brooklyn Nets fell to NBA leaders, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in a 130-101 loss Monday evening at the Barclays Center, after a recent trade .
Statistics were in favor for the Cavaliers, who have the best record in the NBA and the Nets just traded away Dennis Schröder, one of the teams leading scorers. These were contributing factors as the Nets fell behind in the first half, and Brooklyn’s extra push in the second half was not enough.
“We started the game well and then we got punched in the face,” said first year head coach Jordi Fernández following the game. “Then we didn’t have the togetherness, the fight to get back and to keep punching,”
The Nets acquired guards De’Anthony Melton and Reece Beekman and second round draft picks in exchange for Schröder. Schröder was one of the top three scorers on the Nets and had averaged about 18.4 points per game.
“Dennis was very good at organizing everybody,” Fernández said in his pregame interview about how the game changes without Schröder. “Ben is very good at playing with pace and getting good early shots. So obviously we’re going to play to our strengths.”
Ben Simmons started the game swiftly with a steal and a dunk. It was followed by three points from Cameron Johnson and two points from Dorian Finney-Smith, but it didn’t take long for the Cavs to get into a rhythm. Brooklyn trailed 37-17 by the end of the first quarter, 72-40 at halftime, and 104-77 at the end of the third quarter.
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson, who led the Nets for four seasons, anticipated the Nets wanting to play at a slower pace. “We want to play at a faster pace, so it’s going to be a battle of wills,” he said. “We want to impose our will with our transition offense, because we’re really good at it. I think they want to slow it down, muck it up.”
Brooklyn performed better in the second half of the game, outscoring Cleveland 61-58 in the second half of the game. “Keep playing for pride, sake and even then we could have been a lot better,” Johnson said about the message at halftime. “It’s definitely an effort to come out and win the second. Just can’t put ourselves in that kind of hole.”
Cleveland had seven players score in double figures led by Evan Mobley’s 21 points. with Caris LeVert scoring 19 off the bench. Johnson led the Nets with 22 points. He had five assists. Simmons added 10 points. He had eight assists.
The Nets next go on the road to take on the Toronto Raptors Thursday night.
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