CLEVELAND — The Nets were able to carry over their success against the hapless 76ers and Timberwolves in their two games before Wednesday night’s contest against LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
That was the case, at least, until James decided to make his presence felt.
After a quiet first quarter, James exploded in the second, either scoring or assisting on 28 of Cleveland’s 36 points in the period. The Cavaliers erased an early double-digit Nets lead and took control on their way to a comfortable 117-92 win at Quicken Loans Arena.
“They were posting up and he was firing passes and they were making shots,” Nets coach Lionel Hollins said. “He was in the pick-and-roll and you have to help on the roll man. … One time he got the guy on an alley-oop. The next time he hit guys for 3s.
“We can stand here and you can ask me 1,000 questions. In the second quarter when they went small, they destroyed us with their quickness and athleticism and shooting. That was the ball game. There is nothing else I can say about this or that. … That was the ball game.”
Incredibly, the Nets are just 2¹/₂ games out of eighth place because the Celtics also lost Wednesday night. But that was the only positive outcome for the Nets, after James reminded them they lack the kind of game-changing star he is. James has the ability to take over any game at any time — and, in this one, he did so in the second quarter.
The Nets (27-39) jumped out to an early 22-9 lead and held a 26-23 advantage after the first quarter when James had one point, didn’t have a rebound or assist and had two turnovers. But he destroyed the Nets in the second, making three of his four shots while finishing the quarter with nine points, seven assists and no turnovers to help the Cavaliers (44-26) end the first half on a 50-25 run.
“He’s LeBron, so you have to pay attention to everything he does on the court,” Thaddeus Young said. “But if you pay too much attention to him, he’s going to kill you just by making his passes.”
He certainly did that in the second quarter. The Cavaliers finished the quarter with 12 assists on 13 field goals and didn’t commit a turnover, getting one open look after another while the Nets seemed helpless to stop them.
Several of those assists came on James dishes to a wide-open J.R. Smith, who hit five field goals for 14 of his team-high 17 points in the second quarter. All of those points came off James’ assists. The Nets collapsed their defense onto James, leaving Smith wide open on the perimeter for one easy shot after another.
“We knew, with some of the post-ups he got, we were saying, ‘Don’t help as much.’ We were helping a little too much, and guys were getting wide-open shots,” Young said.
Deron Williams, who eventually heated up after starting 1-for-6 from the field, finished with 20 points and six assists to lead the Nets. But it was nowhere near enough to stem the tide in a game they only briefly looked as if they had a chance to win. At least, until James decided they wouldn’t.