The Nets fail to meet just about every guideline I picked out for selecting a team. They aren't good, they don't have many players I like and let's face it, they also have a dumb team name. But before I wrote them off I had to test their NBA 2k10 playability.
This set up the first ever double fandom elimination game between the video game Nets and Jazz. Simple rules really, 12 minute quarters to decide who gets eliminated. The Nets lose and I deem them unplayable. The Jazz lose and I eliminate them because they're unable to beat the woeful Nets.
From the title of this post you can already see how the game went. A 132-127 Nets victory that left the Jazz fans in stunned and upset that I would not be joining them in the crowd at EnergySolutions Arena.
Now, without further adieu, I will attempt to break a record for the most in-depth coverage of a NBA video game.
LAWRENCE, KS| Times have been tough for Sean Williams. The troubled third-year power forward has battled injuries, and various personal problems since arriving at Boston College and then to the NBA's New Jersey Nets.
Williams, however, has always had talent and superb athleticism and there was no better time for Williams to show off that talent than in what was quite possibly the most meaningful game the Nets will play this year.
Williams and the Nets walked into EnergySolutions Arena knowing they're fandom free agency spot was on the line if they couldn't overcome a the Utah Jazz and a raucous home crowd. Everyone in the building knew it was a big game, it always is when Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg are in the building. The stars were out in force with Devin Harris scoring 31 with 18 assists and Deron Williams (no relation to Sean) having 19 and 21. But nobody shined brighter than Sean Williams who finished with 28-9-8 and had a beautiful foray of dunks that sucked the air right out of Utah.
Williams did his best work in the 2nd quarter, scoring 14 points on 6 dunks including an alley-oop from Devin Harris that may give Mehmet Okur nightmares for years to come.
The barrage of dunks had the Nets up by 11 at halftime, but the Jazz came storming back in the 3rd to take a 1 point lead going into the 4th thanks the Deron Williams and fellow Utah guard Ronnie Brewer who finished with 36.
Then came one of the most tightly contested 4th quarters the NBA has ever seen. Both teams exchanging buckets and neither team having a bigger lead than 5 until Terrence Williams (again, no relation to Sean) took the game over in the final 3 minutes.
The rookie scored 9 points in the final 3 minutes including two dunks and a dagger of a 3-pointer in the final minute to lock up the game for the Nets.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock the Nets celebrated as if they'd won a NBA title (and really, this may be as close as they get to one) as the Jazz hung their heads knowing they had lost a potential fan because of their loss to the woeful Nets.
But really Utah, you should have seen this coming like the Knicks. You can't build a roster of players from Duke, Illinois, Arkansas and a russian who occasionally cries during press conferences. The loss to the Nets was merely the straw that broke the camel's back.
Sorry Deron, but #1 you are not.
Well done!
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