For the second straight night, the New Jersey Nets stunk up the building in the first half. However, this time around there was no big comeback as the Nets fell in their home opener against the Atlanta Hawks 106-70.
After scoring just 13 points in the first game of the season against the Washington Wizards, the Nets were even worse against the Hawks with only 11 points, while shooting 23 percent from the field. Things continued to go downhill from there as head coach Avery Johnson rested his starters for most of the fourth quarter to help the rest up for the compact 66-game season that awaits.
One major bright spot for New Jersey was the play of first-round pick MarShon Brooks. The rookie from Providence poured in a game-high 17 points on 5 of 12 from the field in 28 minutes. He also was the only Nets player able to consistently get to the free throw line, hitting on 7 of 8 from the charity stripe.
Deron Williams was held to just 10 points and one assist in 24 minutes while Kris Humphries followed up his huge game against the Wizards with 11 points and six rebounds.
Maybe Humphries and the Nets need the crowd to boo him on ever possession the way the Washington fans did on Tuesday night. The home fans gave the power forward the biggest applause of the night during pregame introductions and often chanted "We Love Humphries", though clearly it didn't help his game.
The Hawks were led by Vladimir Radmanovic's 17 points off the bench, including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. Marvin Williams added 14 points and 9 rebound in just 21 minutes. Overall, six Hawks players finished in double figures.
Atlanta out-rebounded New Jersey 51-36, a stat that is the exact opposite of what Johnson needs to see from his team.
Next up for the Nets will be a meeting with the Orlando Magic and the object of their desire, Dwight Howard, Thursday night.