Brooklyn Boro

Allen’s monster jam sparks Nets’ victory

Rookie’s dunk helps Brooklyn end season-high eight-game slide

February 27, 2018 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Rookie Jarrett Allen smirks and struts his way back down court after his thunderous jam over Chicago’s Lauri Markannen Monday night made all the sports highlight shows and sparked the Nets to their first win in February. AP photo by Mary Altaffer
Share this:

Jarrett Allen wasn’t going to take it anymore.

The rookie center’s thunderous, highlight-reel dunk sparked a decisive third-quarter run as the Brooklyn Nets finally ended their season-high eight-game losing streak Monday night with an impressive 104-87 victory over the Chicago Bulls in front of 15,081 fans at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

Allen, who has steadily improved throughout his initial foray into the NBA, came off a pick clean and slid out to the left side of the basket where he received a feed from point guard D’Angelo Russell.

With only Chicago’s 7-foot power forward Lauri Markannen lying in wait beneath the rim, Allen drove and fiercely tomahawked the ball down, leaving his defender sprawled out on the hardwood.

The ferocious jam brought the hearty crowd and the Nets’ entire bench to its feet, fueling what proved to be a game-changing 12-2 run as Brooklyn opened a 70-58 lead midway through the period en route to its first win since Jan. 31.

“They were missing on the pick and roll, so I just tried to get out earlier and D’Lo made the perfect pass to set me up,” said Allen, who finished with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go with nine rebounds, two assists and three blocked shots.

“I get juice. Everybody gets juice,” added Allen of the effects of the monster slam. “You heard the crowd roar, the team, you can look at the bench. You saw the clip of it. They went crazy, so not only do I get juice, but everybody else does.”

That juice has been sorely lacking from the Nets of late. They had dropped 12 of their previous 13 games overall, falling from the ranks of long-shot playoff hopefuls to potential NBA cellar dwellers.

But Allen’s reverberating dunk brought the Barclays Center to life and energized a Nets team that also benefitted from the long-awaited return of previously injured regulars Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Caris LeVert.

“It was good having them back, even off the court, like basketball aside, just having them play again, having our teammates healthy,” Allen said of the tandem’s return to action. “They added a lot to the court today.”

As did Allen Crabbe, who has flourished despite the Nets’ recent malaise.

Brooklyn’s highest-paid player scored a team-high 21 points and is averaging nearly 18 per contest this month due in large part to a more aggressive approach.

Crabbe also played a hand in the Nets holding the Bulls to a season low-tying 36 points in the second half.

“What I’m most proud of, I just told our staff, he was really good defensively also,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said of Crabbe.  

“I’m just glad he’s starting to realize that he can do it on both ends. Then offensively he’s just ultra-aggressive. I still think he can add some things to his game, I still think he can drive it more to the rim with the shot he has, but excellent all-around game by Allen.”

DeMarre Carroll scored 18 points and Joe Harris added 15 off the bench for Brooklyn, which will now embark on a season high-tying five-game road trip, beginning with Tuesday night’s visit to defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland.

“It’s going to be a good challenge,” said Allen, who is averaging 7.8 points and 5.2 rebounds this season, but 13.2 and 7.5, respectively, over his last 10 games.

“[The Cavaliers are] a younger team now,” he added. “They’re running now. You’ve got to face LeBron (James), so that’s always going to be a challenge, but I think we’re up for it.”

The Nets are feeling more up in general after ending the slide that was threatening to derail a feel-good season in which players like Allen and Crabbe are finding their respective niches in this league.

“It was good,” said Hollis-Jefferson, who had seven points, four rebounds and a steal in his first game action since suffering a groin injury in Milwaukee on Jan. 26.

“It felt good to come out with the W, but I feel like we had past problems where we would win and kind of just get overly excited. Even keel around here, focus on the next game. We have Cleveland tomorrow, get on the plane, watch some film and lock it in for the next task.”

* * *

Downtown’s Battle of Brooklyn will get a third edition this year after the LI Brooklyn men’s basketball squad secured the fourth spot in the upcoming Northeast Conference Tournament and a first-round showdown with No. 5 St. Francis Brooklyn at the Steinberg Wellness Center on Wednesday night.

The Blackbirds secured at least one postseason home game with Saturday afternoon’s 88-77 win over visiting Sacred Heart.

Senior standout Joel Hernandez scored a game-high 26 points for LIU (15-16, 10-8 NEC), which started out slowly but came on late under first-year head coach Derek Kellogg.

The Terriers (13-17, 10-8) squandered their opportunity to host this epic third encounter when they dropped a 78-75 overtime decision at Central Connecticut State on Saturday despite team highs of 20 points, nine rebounds and five steals by sophomore sensation Rasheem Dunn.

No matter where it’s played, however, the win-or-go-home meeting between the neighborhood rivals should feature plenty of fans from both schools.

The squads split their two regular-season encounters this year, with each defending its respective home court.

SFC head coach and Brooklyn native Glenn Braica is hoping to lead the Terriers to their first-ever NEC crown and NCAA Tournament appearance, while Kellogg is priming the Blackbirds for a return to glory.

LIU won an unprecedented three consecutive NEC titles under former head coaches Jim Ferry and Jack Perri, whom Kellogg replaced this past year, from 2011-13.

 

Subscribe to our newsletters


Leave a Comment


Leave a Comment