Nets Blow on the Glass

Cavs (2) vs. Nets (6): Cavs 102, Nets 92 (Game 2)

- This game was basically won on the boards. The Cavs outrebounded the Nets 49-32, and most damaging, grabbed 19 off. boards to only 3 for NJ. We knew this would be a major advantage for the Cavs all series, but not sure we thought it would this brutal; the Nets allowed 20 off. rebs in Game 1. Nets committing 17 TOs just added to the damage. Cavs ended up with 20 more shot attempts. These extra possessions afforded the Cavs to shoot 44.7% to the Nets' 52%. Gooden & Big Z outrebounded their starting frontcourt counterparts from Jersey 23-4. Then you compound that by Varejao adding 9, while Boone & Nachbar only contributed a handful.

- Bron had himself a game. He reacted to the doubles well, didn't try too many ill-advised shots & found his teammates for 12 assists. He also had his outside jumper flowing, which made the proceedings easier--36 pts on 12/24, 3/7 from 3pt.

- Varejao played his patented pinball style and was a nusiance for the the Nets defense to deal with off the ball, He was getting to loose balls & crashed the off. glass for 6 off. boards (9 total). Pavloivc stepped up for the second game in a row with 17 pts. and did a commendable job vs. Vince.

- RJ & Vince found some room to operate on the baseline again. But Vince still found it hard to consistently find room with multiple Cavs waiting for his drives. Can't complain with Jefferson's effort, took what the defense was offering, & finished with 22 on 7/11. Kidd was pretty effective for the most part with 17, 10 asst, 9 rebs and regained his hot shooting touch by going 4/6 from 3pt. But Kidd made a handful of awful passes, just totally un-Kidd-like, which led to 8 TOs. The Nets did not get too much help from their bench, Nachbar looked out-to-lunch all game.

- No surprise, if the Nets want to have a chance advance, they have to find someway to keep the Cavs off the offensive glass.