Nets (85)-Sixers(83)

I only caught the end of the 3rd quarter and the entire fourth quarter of this game, but I'm sure glad I did.  I turned it down with the Nets down 14 and the camera showing Vince grimacing in pain along the Nets bench because of a sprained right ankle... my thoughts at the time "oh god, another bad Net loss, why do I root for this team?"  But the last 15 minutes of game time, made me forget that pessimistic thinking, as the Nets made their back without VC for a big road win.  The Nets had cut the lead down to 10 at the end of 3, a manageable but not ideal deficit.  With VC out the Nets were playing 2 guys that hadn't been seeing much court time: CDR and Trenton Hassell.  One of them, Hassell, made a huge difference.  The Nets were a stout defensive team in the 4th quarter, holding the Sixers to 2 for 20 shooting in the 4th quarter, which is an incredible accomplishment for this defensively challenged team.  Hassell played tough defense for the nets including making a few blocks and steals down the stretch.  With such defensive struggles the past few weeks, a strong defensive player like Hassell should be playing and he showed why tonight.  The Nets also got strong contributions from Keyon Dooling, Devin Harris, and Brook Lopez, who contributed to the victory.  The Nets won despite an offensive rebounding barrage from the Sixers and free throw deficiency from Devin Harris, and they won with defense.  Yes, you read that right, defense.  The Nets won and they played defense, a coincidence? I think not.