Aside from the shocking blowout win we had against the Nets defeating them by 21 points, the real highlight of the night was our bench performance, especially when our new 7'1" tall center from China, Wang Zhizhi hit TWO 3-pointers in a row! These international guys are pure shooters and have an amazing work ethic. It really took the Nets by surprise, the Nets allowed Zhizhi two open looks at the top of the arc because they never expected him to actually attempt the shot, they just expected him to dish it off to the wing, but Zhizhi took the shot and hit two 3's in a row. The crowd was going crazy, he also pulled off a clutch offensive board. This was only Zhizhi's 6th game of the year and was his first opportunity to really show what he can do. When Zhizhi hit his first 3, the energy inside the arena was like that of game 7 at the NBA finals, it was awesome. When Stan Van Gundy took Zhizhi out of the game after his spectacular performance, he received a standing ovation from the crowd. Here is the official recap: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">MIAMI, Jan. 23 (Ticker) -- Jason Kidd misfired on 15 of his 19 shots as the cold-shooting Nets suffered a fifth straight defeat for the first time in three years, falling to the Miami Heat, 85-64. The Nets, who earlier Friday were sold to a developer who plans to move the team to Brooklyn, New York, had not lost five consecutive contests since dropping the final six of the 2000-01 campaign. New Jersey acquired Kidd that summer in a blockbuster deal that sent Stephon Marbury to Phoenix. "We're going to win games, we're going to lose games," Kidd said. "We just have to learn that this is a learning process. We're still learning to be one of those good teams in the league and it just doesn't happen in two years. This is a game that will hopefully help us remember the good times when we were winning five or six games in a row and how we got there to do that." "I don't think any of us thought this is where we would be at the halfway point. We had bigger plans than being 21-20," Nets coach Byron Scott said. "We need to figure out if we want to be a .500 team going into the playoffs or if we want to be one of the elite teams in the league." New Jersey trailed by just 58-54 after Aaron Williams opened the fourth quarter with a pair of free throws. But Malik Allen hit a turnaround jumper and split a pair of free throws, and Lamar Odom made a three-point play to extend the lead to 64-54 with 10:07 remaining. The Nets, who shot 29 percent (21-of-73) from the field, got no closer than eight points thereafter and appeared to give up down the stretch. "I'm not naive enough to think all of their 28.8 percent shooting was because of us, but we defended well," Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. Kidd finished with nine points, nine rebounds and eight assists and backcourt mate Kerry Kittles had just eight points and 3-of-12 shooting. Eddie Jones scored 18 points and Odom added 12, a career high-tying 18 rebounds and six assists for the Heat, who had lost six of their previous seven games and five in a row to the Nets but led throughout this one after Rafter Alston's shot from the arc made it 3-2 26 seconds into the contest. The Heat, who had a season-high seven players reach double figures, shot 44 percent (32-of-73) as they posted their most lopsided win this season. Backup center Wang Zhizhi scored 11 points in 11 minutes, all in the second quarter. "He's done a great job of preparing himself day in and day out in practice," Jones said. "Once he got his chance he showed up big-time for us. It's a boost. We need guys coming off the bench giving boosts like that." </div> http://www.nba.com/games/20040123/NJNMIA/recap.html
Nice win for the Heat. Baaaad loss for the Nets. If the Heat had played like this all season, they could easily be fighting for one of those lower playoff spots right now. I've heard someone say that this loss was in part due to the approval of the Nets sale, which basically finalizes it, but I don't buy that. This was a good strong win.
that win yesterday was great. they had me worried for a while in the third quarter but they pulled it off. excellent team ball, lots of people contributed. the nets walked off the floor before the game was over, poor sportsmanship. that is a team that's imploding before the season is over. you only had to see the look on kmart's face.
Everybody make sure you beat up on .the nets now because the playoffs are coming soon. only 1/2 a season away. And thing are going to change.
I think Wang can be very successful in the East...he can take those lumbering, slow big men and hit 3s, and also post them up since most are undersized...all he's lacking is infinite knowledge of the NBA and its lifestyle...
well we won against the Knicks and Houston also. Most important we keep Marbury,Kidd,and Francis lower than 10 points. Today Wang had 5 points in five minutes.He mad 5 points in a row. I think he should get more than 5 minutes.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MiamiHeat03:</div><div class="quote_post">I think he should get more than 5 minutes.</div> I agree! I must say that I was rather disappointed tonight that Wang and Yao were not playing on the court at the same time, i'm sure everyone feels the same way.
