BOSTON – The Brooklyn Nets rank near the bottom of the NBA standings, but they came as close as any team this season in knocking off the (still) undefeated Golden State Warriors.
Brooklyn suffered a 107-99 overtime loss, a game that the Nets were well positioned to win.
While the defeat added to their loss ledger, the Nets have not been the same team since.
In their last three games, Brooklyn has averaged 91.0 field goal attempts, which ranks second in the NBA during that span.
More field goal attempts means more opportunities to score and thus, win games.
They have also improved their assist-to-turnover ratio (2.03) in the last three games, which is the third-best mark in the league.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens has repeatedly talked about how the Nets are playing better basketball than their record might suggest.
Boston Celtics
Lopez agreed, and attributed the team’s ability to hold their own with the defending NBA champion Warriors as the reason why.
“We definitely felt we gave that game away,” Lopez said. “We had multiple chances. We have to bring that kind of focus and concentration night-in and night-out.”
Here’s the Tale of the Tape heading into tonight’s game.
BOSTON(LEAGUE RANK) CATEGORY BROOKLYN
102.5 (9) PPG 95.7 (28)
42.6 (23) FG% 44.0 (16)
89.2 (2) FGA 87.2 (7)
30.2 (28) 3P% 28.9 (30)
22.8 (18) FTA 18.7 (28)
13.1 (3) OR 11.3 (11)
32.0 (26) DR 33.0 (20)
45.1 (11) REB 44.3 (17)
23.5 (6) AST 21.6 (13)
100.0 (19) ORTG 97.2 (29)
95.5 (4) DRTG 104.9 (24)
50.6 (13) REB% 50.2 (16)
47.3 (22) eFG% 46.7 (25)
101.89 (5) PACE 97.62 (24)
Glossary of terms
PPG – Points per game
FG% - Field Goal Percentage
FGA – Field Goal Attempts
3P% - 3-point percentage
FTA – Free throw attempts
OR – Offensive rebounds
DR – Defensive rebounds
REB – Total Rebounds
AST – Assists
ORTG – Offensive Rating
DRTG – Defensive Rating
REB% -- Rebounding percentage
eFG% -- Effective Field Goal Percentage
PACE – Possessions per 48 minutes