Magnificent Deron Williams scores 57; New Jersey Nets beat Charlotte Bobcats 104 – 101 – NBA Recap
The New Jersey Nets netted an important, come from behind, 104 - 101 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday. The story at the Time Warner Cable Arena however was the performance of one Deron Williams.
The Nets All Star point guard was in splendid form on the night and he produced a truly inspiring performance. Deron pounded the Bobcats with 57 points, his career high and a franchise record, not to mention the highest point’s tally of any player in the
current NBA season.
Williams was just in the zone, and he kept on hitting. The point guard was 16-of-29 from the floor, and a perfect 21-of-21 from the charity stripe. He also had 7 assists, but it was clear that his focus was on scoring.
"He really was focused," Avery Johnson, the Nets head coach, said after the game. Johnson had opined before the game that it would benefit his team if Williams tried and score more. He rested the star and Deron responded.
"He was well-rested. He made a lot of shots yesterday in our mini-practice and it carried over into tonight's game. We were going back and forth on whether to have a shoot around this morning and we opted for rest. And he was pretty fresh."
The Bobcats coach Paul Silas though defended his side. It was clear that Charlotte had decided not to double-team Deron on pick-and-rolls. This allowed them to focus on closing down his passing options, however it resulted in Deron taking over himself.
"You can do one of two things: you can try to stop him and double him and leave other players wide open or guard everybody," Silas said. "I thought that's mainly what kept us in the game. Nobody else was doing anything (for them). It gave us a chance."
The Bobcats were indeed able to hold everyone else to mediocre point’s tallies. Kris Humphries was the only other player of note for New Jersey with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Charlotte had a few players performing well. Corey Maggette had 24 points and 7 rebounds as he led the charge. Gerald Henderson scored 15, D.J. Augustin had 12 and Kemba Walker finished with 14 points. Boris Diaw dished out 8 assists.
Charlotte were the stronger team in the first half. Although the opening quarter was well contested, the Bobcats managed to get their noses in front, 25 – 22. They then had a good second period in which they were able to consolidate the lead and went into
halftime in a strong position, up at 53 – 45.
After the break however, Deron took over. He was absolutely on fire in the third segment, scoring 22 points as he single-handedly got New Jersey back in the game. The Nets ended the frame on top at 73 – 72.
Williams didn’t slow down in the final stanza either. He kept on pounding Charlotte, who tried but failed to match up. Maggette made two big shots at the death for the Bobcats, but his efforts weren’t enough and the Nets walked out with a 104 – 101 victory.
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