No one connected on any buzzer-beating half-court heaves, but I’d argue that what the New Jersey Nets accomplished in the closing moments of the third quarter in their eventual loss to the Hornets tops a lucky shot.
In his first game as a Net, Gerald Wallace got involved on both ends of the floor during a 35-second sequence of events that saw the home team expand their lead from 5 to 12 points. The surprising run began with a relatively simple jump shot, but things got pretty crazy after that.
Watching this live, it all seemed to occur in the blink of an eye. I actually needed to take a few moments to consider what had just happened during the ensuing commercial break. Seeing it on Youtube won’t quite replicate the experience of watching everything unfold in the context of a live game, but I did upload the entire thing so you can witness it uninterrupted. Brace yourself…
Yeah. Wow. Talk about up-and-down, end-to-end action. That Deron Williams/Gerald Green/Kris Humphries double alley-oop conversion would’ve been bizarre enough on its own (off the top of my head I’m only coming up with one other play like it, which was pulled off by Andre Miller, Marcus Camby, and Kenyon Martin). For it to come in the midst of a 7-0 run… between a huge block and a buzzer-beating three, both by the dude playing his first game with the team… I don’t even know. My mind was, and is still a little bit blown. To make it even weirder another double alley-oop had almost been completed earlier in the game, but Hump blew the finish on that one.
Fortunately for the Nets, New Orleans hung in there and came up with some magic of their own (remember, the winner of this game is really the loser). New Jersey failed to put any points on the board over the first few minutes of the fourth and the Bees came buzzing back. It remained a tight contest down the stretch… the score was all tied up with just over three minutes to go. Props to Kris Humphries for blocking a shot and hitting a couple FTs to give his team a two-point lead, but for a minute it appeared that Gerald Green, who seems to be incapable of doing anything wrong right now, was going to be the hero.
Green scored his 15th and 16th points as he knocked down a pull-up 15 footer to give the Nets a two-possession cushion with 2:20 to play. New Orleans got a quick bucket from Marco Belinelli, but as Jarrett Jack drove to the rack for the tie Gerald swooped down from the rafters and sent the shot away. He actually bumped his damn head on the backboard as he made the block. I sh!t you not.
That would be the final play Green and the Nets made on either end of the floor, though, and that aforementioned Hornet magic was about to take place. Following a go-ahead three-pointer by Jack, Chris Kaman knocked down a contested 23-foot jump shot (had his right shoe been a size smaller it would’ve counted for three) in the face forehead of Shelden Williams. Marco Belinelli proceeded to hit the final dagger as the shot clock expired. If Kaman’s foot-on-the-line jumper had remained a three I figure my head probably would have exploded.
Throughout all of ^^that the Nets failed to score. I think Billy King put an invisible lid on his team’s basket. Only three impact players in this draft, Billy? C’mon son. You know you f@cked up.
