I watched the first half of this game, and I came away impressed with the Nets’ unwillingness to roll over and die in the face of long odds to win. I was impressed with Brook Lopez, more specifically. He saw he had Zaza Pachulia on him, and he made it his personal mission to abuse the Georgian’s immobility, whether in the paint or outside the arc.
Then I stopped watching, and I came back to check the score and Brooklyn had lost by 16, after being up by 16 at halftime. Oops. I guess that’s what the Warriors do to teams sometimes, just bury them and keep burying until the only thing left above ground is whatever Jeremy Lin’s ridiculous hairstyle is that day.
I can’t really say why Lopez only scored 5 more points after his big 23-point half. I didn’t watch that part of the game. But I can speculate! My speculation is this: he died.