| Carter, Harris Sit Out, Nets Fall in Finale April 15, 2009 by Ben Couch – NJNETS.COM |
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–>NEW YORK — The Nets‘ season opened on the road in Washington with a win, and closed in New York with a loss. Stars Vince Carter and Devin Harris finished the year on the bench, sidelined by nagging injuries, leaving their final 48 minutes to the young players who form the future core and the veterans who filled their roles with unanticipated aplomb.
But against a Knicks team also eliminated from playoff contention, the Nets fell behind by 12 in the second quarter and were unable to recover, losing to the Knicks 102-73 on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.
“We were offensively inept, with the (17) turnovers,” said Nets coach Lawrence Frank. “We played it like it was the last game of the year, and it was. We obviously missed not only Vince and Devin’s scoring, but their ability to make plays.”
Rookie swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts led New Jersey with 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting. It was yet another strong scoring performance in Douglas-Roberts’ late-season surge, which has him averaging 9.5 points in 15 games since breaking through the first time the Nets appeared at the Garden on March 18 with a then career-high 14.
Douglas-Roberts was the last of the Nets’ three rookies to earn regular minutes, following Brook Lopez, who took over as starting center in the eighth game, and Ryan Anderson, who has started for two stretches this season. Anderson paced the team in rebounds with 11, adding 13 points (2-5 3Ps) to record his third double-double.
“There were pretty good individual performances; CDR and Ryan came in and played great,” Lopez said. “But it wasn’t there tonight, and it showed.”
Keyon Dooling shot only 2-for-8, but finished the season starting and contributed six points, seven rebounds and five assists. As a combo guard brought in mainly to back up Harris, Dooling has produced at career-best levels (setting new highs in points, assists, minutes, 3PM, 3PA and 3P%) while ably filling in as a starter when need be.
That stellar individual season effort was mirrored by swingman Jarvis Hayes, who came to the Nets from Detroit and showed a more diverse game than many expected, flashing downcourt in transition with regularity, nailing corner threes and also playing solid defense at the 2, 3 and 4. He also shed an “injury-prone” perception by toughing out the last two months of the season with torn ligaments in his left (non-shooting) thumb.
And yet Hayes viewed the season only through a larger lens.
“What I did individually, to me, doesn’t mean anything if as a team we didn’t succeed,” Hayes said. “You could say I had a pretty decent year, but it didn’t get this team to where it needed to be, so I’ve got to come back with a better year next year.”
