Just how bad are the Nets? Once the Suns stopped throwing the ball away in the second half, it was true domination. Amare had the most minutes on the team at 28.
Obviously the Suns are vastly better team when they can shoot the three. 31 assists reflects the far better ball movement than the team showed in the Hornet game but better three point defense was crucial. The Nets shot 7 of 22 three's compared to 13 of 24 by the Hornets.
Box scores can be deceptive. Based on stats, Lopez didn't do much: 1 rebound and only 1 of 4 shooting; but he played most of the fourth quarter and they held the Nets to 9 points. Overall he had 3 blocks in just under 20 minutes.
Clearly the Nets were unable to deal with Shaq (7 of 8) and Amare (6 of 9) AND their shooters: Nash 2 of 3 for three, Bell 6 of 6 for 3, Barnes 3 of 6 for three, and Barbosa 1 of 2 for three.
In the first three games the Suns backups did badly. Against the Blazers Hill was only 1 of 6. Tonight they did far better:
Hill 5 of 7 (4 assists)
Dragic 2 of 3 (2 assists
Barbosa 4 of 7 (4 assists)
Singletary 1 of 2 (1 assist in 4 minutes)
Diaw only 2 of 6 but had 6 rebounds and 2 assists
Wed's game looks to be a real challenge.