Brook Lopez, Dime #43

We wonder if Dwight Howard was watching last night. The two teams most often associated with the Orlando big man met up for what could’ve been a classic last night in Dallas if it wasn’t for Jason Kidd, and if it wasn’t for the fact that one of the teams is the Nets. Still, New Jersey stole the game 93-92 after a Kidd three-point heave at the buzzer was off. How’d it happen? The Nets have a new big man, and it’s not the guy everyone is talking about. Brook Lopez dropped 38 points in his first big game of the season after coming off his injury. New Jersey led all night. Dallas’ first basket of the fourth quarter didn’t come until nearly 10 minutes in when, of all people, Brendan Haywood, made a hook shot. From there, they chipped away at it, and eventually, they got a lead off a Kidd triple in the closing minute. The problem? They went back to the well again – Kidd missed a three after the Nets had regained the lead – and then AGAIN – Kidd missed at the buzzer. You’d think they’d learn not to continue to get Kidd open looks with the game on the line considering he made one shot all night, and has made just a few more than that all season … Gerald Green might still be as one dimensional as a hit rap record, but damn does he do that one thing well. He caught a sick lob last night in his first game with the Nets … Philadelphia put the kids to bed in Detroit, roughing up the Pistons in the middle two quarters and running away with a 29-point win. Thaddeus Young had 20 and eight off the bench … Turns out spelling Derrick Rose for most of the All-Star Game worked. The dude dropped 32 and nine on the Hornets in Chicago’s four-point win … Indiana started the second half of the season the way they ended the first: winning. The Pacers destroyed Golden State by 24 after placing six guys in double figure scoring, including 25 from Danny Granger … Sacramento got 22 and 18 from their “new cornerstone” DeMarcus Cousins in a seven-point win over the fading Jazz … Minnesota got 27 a piece off the bench from Michael Beasley and Derrick Williams and beat the Clippers 109-97 … Houston got 26 from Kyle Lowry and survived to beat Toronto, 88-85 … And someone give it up for Indiana. After their surprising double-digit win over Michigan State last night, the Hoosiers have now beaten three top teams this season … Keep reading to hear how John Wall was screwed over by his teammates again …