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 "I was surprised," said Lopez, whose 18-point performance
highlighted the Nets' dominating 116-85 victory over the
injury-riddled Oklahoma Thunder in Brooklyn's regular-season home
opener. "I thought it would have been a lot tougher than it was. I
felt really good out there."
"I was glad to be back playing. I can't put it into words. I missed
being out there big time."
The Nets (2-1) placed six players in double figures, including point
guard Deron Williams, who had 17 points and nine assists.
Guard Alan Anderson also had 18 points and forward Mason Plumlee
added 10, both off the bench, as the Nets took the lead from the
opening tap and raced out to the easy win. Plumlee also led Brooklyn
with eight rebounds. Forwards Joe Johnson and Bojan Bogdanovic added
13 and 12, respectively, for the Nets, which improved to 2-1.
Anderson scored his points in just 15 minutes, connecting on all
four of his attempts from 3-point range. The Nets shot 11 of 21 (52
percent) from long range for the game. The Thunder bench struggled,
as its reserves were outscored by the Nets by a margin of 50-18.
 "We came out and took care of business early," said Nets head coach
Lionel Hollins. "We were aggressive and attacked from the start. We
took the lead, increased it and then the flood gates opened. They
just didn't have the players to keep up with us."
Thunder guard Reggie Jackson had 23 points, forward Perry Jones
finished with 16 and forward Serge Ibaka added 15 to pace the
Thunder (1-3), which played without reigning NBA MVP Kevin Durant
and All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook, both out for an extended
period due to injury.
"We didn't have the defensive intensity that we had the first three
games," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. "We turned the ball
over too many times. We played with defensive intensity the first
three games, but not tonight and that's disappointing. We can come
back from this, for sure."
Lopez, a center playing in his first game since last December,
didn't show any signs of fatigue. He scored seven straight points
during a stretch in the second period and added a thunderous slam
dunk midway through the third.
"We were fantastic out there," Lopez said. "We were great
defensively and there were really no lulls. We moved the ball around
offensively and got what we wanted. We couldn't have started off a
better way at home."
The Nets led 32-19 at the end of the first quarter, 59-40 at
halftime and 85-62 at the end of the third quarter.
The Nets scored the first three points of the game and never looked
back, as they built a double-digit lead within the first eight
minutes of the first quarter. Johnson scored eight early points and
Plumlee gave the Nets a huge lift off the bench, scoring six points
and grabbing four rebounds in the first quarter.
"The key was getting off to the good start," said Johnson, who
nailed his first two shots from 3-point range. "We have a lot of
guys who can shoot the ball. We just have to keep making it a point
to pass the ball. It was great to have Brook back. He's a key
component to this team and it was great to see him getting up and
down the floor."
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With the Thunder concentrating on Lopez down low, the Nets found
open shooters and drained seven of their first 10 attempts from
3-point range.
"Everyone got into the flow early," Hollins said. "A lot of our guys
did a lot of nice things. When you play like that and make shots, it
makes things a lot easier. It would be difficult if we didn't make
them. Sharing the basketball is always a good thing."
Hollins was glad to have Lopez back.
"I was excited to see him moving so well, blocking shots," Hollins
said. "I thought he was a little sluggish early, but I kept playing
him. I wanted to play him so he could get a rhythm. It worked out
fine."
Lopez threw down a rim-rattling slam midway through the second
quarter off an alley-oop pass from forward Kevin Garnett, giving
Brooklyn a 55-33 lead with 2:43 left before halftime. Lopez scored
five straight Brooklyn points during the two-minute span.
Plumlee capped the dominating first half with another alley-oop slam
at the buzzer, giving the Nets a 59-40 halftime lead.
Williams paced the Nets attack with 11 first-half points and five
assists, while Johnson had nine.
Jones and Ibaka had 11 points each to pace the Thunder.
The Nets shot 53.7 percent from the floor in the first half (22 of
41) compared to just 35 percent for Oklahoma City (16 of 45).
NOTES: Brooklyn Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov made a rare
appearance before his team's home opener. Prokhorov did not talk
about any proposal with Guggenheim Baseball Partners to purchase a
minority piece of the franchise. The Russian billionaire, however,
added that his initial investment in the Nets is "worth five or six
times" more than when he bought it. Prokhorov also said he had no
plans to relinquish ownership of the franchise. "I will not give up
ownership of this team no matter what," Prokhorov said. ... With
All-Star F Kevin Durant (right foot) and G Russell Westbrook (hand)
already out, Thunder G Jeremy Lamb (lower back) and former Net G
Anthony Morrow (knee) also missed Monday's game. ...
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