Though 24-58 is an improvement over last year, the New Jersey Nets experienced another tough season.
However, based on their play this year, Nets fans have plenty of hope as the team prepares to move to Brooklyn after next season.
While the wins didn’t pile up, there were a few positives this year. New head coach Avery Johnson preached the importance of playing a complete game, which the Nets will look to improve upon next season.
Power forward Kris Humphries had a breakout year, and Brook Lopez began to establish himself as a skilled NBA big man.
The team also welcomed All-Star point guard Deron Williams and expects big contributions from him next season.
The Nets played exciting basketball at times, which bodes well for next year.
Here are the top 10 games of the Nets 2010-2011 season.
10. Nets Win on Opening Night
Date: October 28, 2010
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Score: Nets 101, Pistons 98
The Nets jumped off to a good start an opening night victory over the Detroit Pistons.
After trailing by six points at halftime, the Nets put together back-to-back 31 point quarters. However, the Nets still were down by seven with 1:40 remaining.
New Jersey chipped away, and relied on a clutch three-pointer from Anthony Morrow with 26 seconds left to put the Nets ahead to stay.
Brook Lopez led the way with 25 points, while Devin Harris added 22. Though the Pistons had seven players in double-figures, the Nets got timely bench points from Jordan Farmar and Terrence Williams.
New Jersey’s first-round draft pick, Derrick Favors, made his NBA debut in this game and scored eight points with 10 rebounds.
After losing their first 18 games of the 2009-2010 season, the Nets were happy to gave earned their first win in just their first game.
9. Rare Road Win at Memphis
Date: December 21, 2010
Location: FedExForum, Memphis, TN
Score: Nets 101, Grizzlies 94
The Nets earned just their third road win of the season after they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies.
New Jersey shot 52.6 percent from the field, and held Memphis stars Rudy Gay and Zack Randolph to 8-of-29 shooting for 11 points apiece.
Brook Lopez knocked in a game-high 26 points, while recently acquired Sasha Vujacic scored 16 off the bench on 6-of-8 shooting.
Kris Humphries recorded a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
The win concluded a streak in which the Nets won three out of four games.
8. Come-from-Behind Win over Portland
Date: November 28, 2010
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Score: Nets 96, Trail Blazers 96
With Kim Kardashian on hand, the Nets rallied from a three-quarter deficit to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers.
Devin Harris paced the Nets with 25 points and eight assists. New Jersey got great production from its three power forwards—Derrick Favors, Kris Humphries and Troy Murphy—who combined for 24 points and 14 rebounds.
The Nets were able to hang on late despite three Trail Blazers scoring 20-plus points. Wesley Matthews, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25, 21 and 20 points, respectively.
This was a nice bounce-back win after the Nets were outscored by 16 points in the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers the day before.
7. Deron Williams Nets Debut
Date: February 25, 2011
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
Score: Spurs 106, Nets 96
Though the Nets lost the game, Deron Williams’ Nets debut easily makes this list. The Nets battled with the NBA-best Spurs until San Antonio got hot in the third quarter.
New Jersey played with a renewed sense of energy to kick off the Deron Williams era. Williams developed a connection with his teammates, especially Kris Humphries.
However, the Spurs were too much for the Nets to handle. Manu Ginobili led all scorers with 26 points, while Tim Duncan and DeJaun Blair added 17 each.
After a slow start, Williams recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 assists. Anthony Morrow scored 25 points off the bench in the losing effort.
This game gave Nets fan a preview of what they should expect next season—more so the energy than the loss.
6. Defeat Melo at “The Rock”
Date: January 31, 2011
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Score: Nets 115, Nuggets 99
Three 30-plus point quarters led the Nets to a home victory over the Denver Nuggets.
At this time, the rumors surrounding Carmelo Anthony were swirling, so the Nets erected a poster board of the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn right outside the visitor’s locker room.
Anthony responded in a big way, scoring 37 points with nine rebounds in the loss.
Brook Lopez scored 27 points, while Devin Harris dished out 18 assists.
Travis Outlaw had one of his best games as a Net with 21 points on 8-of-14 from the field. Anthony Morrow had the hot hand all night and finished with 18 points on 6-of-6 shooting—4-of-4 from three-point range.
This win proved to Melo that the Nets have depth. Hopefully, New Jersey can use this depth to defeat Melo more often now that he’s a New York Knick.
5. Win on the Road over Top-Seeded Celtics
Date: March 14, 2011
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Score: Nets 88, Celtics 79
The Nets used a 13-1 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to earn a win over the Boston Celtics—the Eastern Conference leader at the time.
The win signified New Jersey’s fifth straight win.
Despite strong performances by Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Glen “Big Baby” Davis, the Nets held the rest of the Celtics in check, mainly Paul Pierce, who only scored seven points on 2-of-10 shooting.
The Nets had five players in double-figures, led by Brook Lopez’s 20 points. Kris Humphries recorded a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Deron Williams added 16 points of his own. He drilled a crossover three-pointer with 35.6 seconds left that sealed the win and resulted in the most memorable fan reaction of the season
Though New Jersey went into a tailspin after this win, it was one of this season’s top games.
4. Triple-Overtime Loss to Thunder
Date: December 1, 2010
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Score: Thunder 123, Nets 120
Though the Nets lost this triple-overtime battle to the Oklahoma City Thunder, this game had it all.
Following a first half that looked like the Thunder would blow the Nets out of the water, Anthony Morrow’s improbable three-pointer at the end of regulation sent the game to overtime.
However, Russell Westbrook took control in the overtime periods, making big shot after big shot. He was one assist shy of a triple-double—38 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. Jeff Green added 37 points in the win.
Brook Lopez and Jordan Farmar scored 28 points each in over 50 minutes of play. Morrow finished with 25 points and shot 3-of-6 from behind the arch.
This would have been a big game for the Nets to win. New Jersey went on to lose the next six games.
3. Total Team Effort Against Utah
Date: January 19, 2011
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Score: Nets 103, Jazz 95
Following Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s announcement that New Jersey would no longer pursue Carmelo Anthony, the Nets gave a valiant effort to hang on for the win against the Utah Jazz.
A 21-5 first quarter run established a nice lead for the Nets, though the Jazz made things interesting late.
Seven Nets finished in double-figures, with Brook Lopez leading the way with 20 points.
Deron Williams scored 20 points and added 10 assists for the Jazz. Little did he know that he would be a Net just over a month later.
This win snapped a six-game losing streak, and gave Nets fans a preview of things to come with Williams.
2. Triple-Overtime Win in London
Date: March 5, 2011
Location: The O2 Arena, London
Score: Nets 137, Raptors 136
In the second game of the historic first-ever series in London, the Nets completed the sweep of the Toronto Raptors in this triple-overtime thriller.
Travis Outlaw had the hot hand late, scoring the final eight Nets points in the third overtime.
Brook Lopez starred on the European stage, scoring 34 points with 14 rebounds and eight blocks. Kris Humphries and Deron Williams also recorded double-doubles.
For the Raptors, Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan scored 35 and 30 points, respectively, in the losing cause. Bargnani had a chance to give Toronto the win, but his final jumper was off the mark.
The 137 points was the most the Nets scored in a game all season—albeit they did have three overtime periods.
New Jersey used its trip to London to start its five-game winning streak.
1. Nets Overcome 20-Point Deficit to Beat Clippers
Date: March 11, 2011
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Score: Nets 102, Clippers 98
The Nets were down 20 points midway through the second quarter in this one, which looked like it would snap the Nets three-game winning streak.
Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan were putting on a “dunk-a-thon” early, and the Nets were without Deron Williams.
However, the team dug deep within themselves to fight back for the four-point win.
Travis Outlaw gave the team a jolt of energy after halftime when Avery Johnson inserted him into the starting lineup for the opening minutes. He scored eight straight points as the Nets were able to chip away at the lead.
Kris Humphries had a monster performance, with 19 points on a perfect 8-of-9 shooting and 20 rebounds. Brook Lopez and Jordan Farmar added 24 points each, though all of Farmar’s points came in the second half.
This was a great win because the Nets didn’t give up. Even without their superstar point guard, New Jersey found a way to keep its winning streak alive.
