Nets Defeat Raptors in Home-Opener Despite Hurricane Sandy Aftermath

Amidst the tragedy that was Hurricane Sandy, the Nets took on the Toronto Raptors Saturday night officially opening up the Barclays Center with a 107-100 victory.

It was a proud day for owners Mikhail Prokhorov, who saw his Nets team finally open up the Brooklyn stadium after two years of building.

Brook Lopez lead the way for the Nets with 27 points and five rebounds, while Deron Williams started where he left off from in the Olympics tallying 19 points and nine assists.

The Nets came out slow falling behind to the Raptors 35-27 after the first quarter. The Raptors used a barrage of three-point goals by Kyle Lowry (28 points eight assists eight rebounds) to silence the rowdy Brooklyn crowd.

But that didn't slow down the Nets who used a 15-3 run to start the second quarter of play capped off by a Reggie Evans lay-up to put the Nets up two.

The Nets would only trail one other time the rest of the game as Deron Williams sealed the deal at the free throw line.

Joe Johnson struggled early on during his debut starting just 3-9 from the field but caught on and used his veteran leadership to pave the way for the Nets.

But the story of the game was the fast-paced play of reserve guard C.J. Watson who finished with 15 points off the bench. Watson hit a short floater with under two minutes left to break a 94-94 tie and break the Nets away for good.

Throughout the game, the sense of the re-franchsied Nets rang through the arena with numerous chants that were normally reserved for the other team when the Nets were in New Jersey. 'Brooklyn' rang through the rafters as the nearly sold-out crowd chanted on the Nets as they walked away with the victory.

Notes: Gerald Wallace was injured with under a minute remaining when he blocked a lay-up attempt by Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry. Wallace swatted the lay-up attempt and landed on Lowry's foot causing him to roll his left ankle. He would walk away but the Nets are currently awaiting x-ray results.

Dan Benton

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