Don't look now, but the New Jersey Nets have won three of their last four games, including Tuesday night's 101-94 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. The win snapped a 10-game road losing streak dating back to Nov. 15 in Los Angeles against the Clippers.
The Nets return to action immediately Wednesday night, something that head coach Avery Johnson no doubt hopes will help his team to continue playing well. With that in mind, here are the three good stats from Tuesday night in Memphis.
1. 49-39 Rebounding Advantage
The one way New Jersey has been to win without shooting the lights out has been with their rebounding. Very simply, when they win the battle of the glass, they win. In their nine victories this season, they have outrebounded their opponent seven times and the other two games there was only one rebound separating the two teams.
In order to stay competitive on the boards, Kris Humphries needs to play big time minutes. At least until Brook Lopez becomes a bigger factor on the glass or Derrick Favors' minutes increase. Humphries ranks third in the NBA in Rebounds Per 48 Minutes. Only Kevin Love and Marcus Camby are more efficient rebounders.
2. 53% Shooting
So far this season, the Nets are shooting 43% from the floor so odds are they will be hard to beat when they are 10% over their average. That's exactly what happened against the Grizzlies when ever player except Devin Harris were better than 50% from inside the arc.
3. 16 Points In 25 Minutes
Three games is an awfully small sample size, but the Nets may have found something with the "throw in" from the Terrence Wiilliams trade, Sasha Vujacic. The six-year veteran has averaged 11 points in New Jersey, highlighted by Tuesday night's 16 point, four rebound performance.
Vujacic has been a ball of energy off the bench, something this team has lacked most of the season. While it would hurt not getting the shot of arm he delivers as a reserve, in his short time with the Nets Vujacic has already earned a chance to jump into the starting lineup.