Sliding Fast
Coming off a yet another disheartening blowout, the New Jersey Nets look to avoid their longest losing streak in more than three years when they visit the high-scoring Golden State Warriors on Thursday night.
The Nets (18-23) saw their skid reach a season high-tying six games Tuesday with a 128-94 loss at Sacramento. New Jersey has been outscored by more than 20 points in three of the defeats.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Golden State –9 point spread favorites (NBA Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 215 total points (Matchup). Our public betting information shows that 53% of bets for this game have been placed on Golden State –9 (View NBA Bet Percentages).
"Just a dismal performance," said Nets coach Lawrence Frank, whose team is three games into a season-high six-game road trip. "It starts with containment on the ball. We couldn’t do that. We also couldn’t close out on their shooters. … We are simply playing very poorly."
The Nets are allowing opponents to shoot 50.3 percent from the field during the slide, while making just 41.5 percent of their shots.
"We have to continue to give effort and focus," Nets swingman Vince Carter said. "It’s not that we are not giving effort. It is that we need to give more effort. Everything gets magnified when you’re losing and we need to change things."
New Jersey last dropped seven in a row during a nine-game slide from Nov. 10-28, 2004.
Carter, second on the team with 20.9 points per game, was 9-for-13 from the field for 21 points and added eight assists against the Kings. He made only four of 13 shots and scored 10 points in a 116-92 loss at Phoenix on Sunday.
Carter had 23 points and 12 rebounds in the first meeting of the season with Golden State (25-18), a 100-95 Nets home win Dec. 22.
New Jersey, though, has dropped two straight and five of seven at Oakland. Its last win there came Jan. 26, 2005.
The Nets are among the lowest-scoring teams in the NBA, averaging 93.4 points. Golden State is second in the league with 109.0, but it’s giving up a league-worst 107.1 points per game.
The Warriors (25-18) are looking to rebound from Monday’s heartbreaking 109-108 loss to Minnesota, the team with the worst record in the NBA. Golden State blew two chances to win in the final seconds as Baron Davis missed a driving layup and Al Harrington’s tip-in attempt rolled off the rim at the buzzer.
The defeat began a stretch of 13 home games in 16 contests and Warriors coach Don Nelson was not pleased with the effort.
"I’m pretty disappointed with our performance tonight," Nelson said. "There didn’t seem to be much energy, much passion, or much urgency to the game. … We’ve been playing very well but we laid an egg tonight."
The Warriors, winners of 11 of their last 15 at Oracle Arena, haven’t lost consecutive games at home since starting the season with four straight losses there.
"A lot of people doubt us," said Harrington, who had nine points on 3-for-12 shooting against the Timberwolves. "I wouldn’t doubt us. I feel like we haven’t hit our stride yet. We haven’t played great basketball yet. We’re the type of team that can lose seven and then go on a 10-game winning streak. We haven’t reached that level yet, but when we do we will be dangerous."
Golden State could use a better performance from Davis, who went 5-for-14 from the floor – 2-of-8 from 3-point range – and had 15 points and six assists. The point guard leads the club with 22.2 points and 8.1 assists per game.
He shot just 6-for-19 and finished with 15 points in the last meeting with the Nets.
By: Marc Young – theSpread.com – Email Us
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