Nets lose again despite Jianlian’s 29
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (AFP) — Yi Jianlian matched his NBA career high with 29 points, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the New Jersey Nets from stumbling to their 10th straight defeat on Monday.
The latest setback came courtesy of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were led by the 40 points of Kevin Durant in a 105-89 victory.
Former Net Nenad Krstic added 19 points and Russell Westbrook had 16 points and 10 assists for Oklahoma City, who won a season-high third straight game.
The Nets, meanwhile, now have their second double-digit losing streak of the season, after setting an unwelcome NBA record with 18 straight defeats to open their campaign.
Nick Collison came off the bench to score 11 points with 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who held New Jersey to 17 points in the final 17 minutes.
“I was so pleased with how we played in the fourth quarter,” said Durant, who made 15 of 22 shots. “No matter if I got 40 or not, we played so hard in the fourth and limited their touches, limited them to one shot and out and we got some easy baskets. That was a great effort in the fourth.”
The Thunder led most of the game, but the Nets scored nine straight points midway through the third quarter and took a 72-70 lead on a 3-pointer by Courtney Lee.
But Durant, who hit 15 of 22 from the field, converted three free throws to spark a 35-17 scoring run that put Oklahoma City in control.
Yi, who was 10 of 16 from the field, made New Jersey’s only two baskets in the final 5:42 of the third quarter.
The 22-year-old Chinese star had returned to action for the Nets on Wednesday after missing seven weeks with a sprained knee. His return had been delayed after he suffered a cut lip in practice in the first week of December that required 50 stitches.
Yi scored 17 points in a loss to Houston on Saturday, but missed a late jump shot and also was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim with 2:26 to play.
He appeared to have put those errors behind him as he scored 18 first-half points on Monday, career high for a half.
Nets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe, who took over coaching duties from sacked Lawrence Frank, believes letting Yi play through mistakes is key to the player’s development.
“You’ve got to learn through fire,” Vandeweghe said. “You’ve got to learn from games … That’s just an important part of development for any player. You stay with them, stay with them through the mistakes in games. There’s no other way to do it.”
Vanderweghe’s approach seems to be boosting Yi’s confidence.
“It doesn’t mean you don’t care about your mistakes or don’t worry,” he said. “But right now I feel more comfortable if I make mistakes.”
“He’s really improving,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said of Yi. “Hopefully, he can stay healthy. He’s a terrific player and he does a lot of things well.”