Nets, missing Yi, fall to Thunder

January 26, 10:49 PMAsian-American Sports ExaminerMichael Street

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When Vince Carter goes cold,
the Nets wish they had Yi (AP Photo/Alonso Adams)

Since Yi Jianlian broke his little finger on January 9, the Nets have gone 2-5, with one of those wins against the lowly Oklahoma City Thunder, 6-33 at the time and 9-35 going into tonight's action (their other victory came Saturday against the 11-32 Memphis Grizzlies). And it took overtime for them to take down the Thunder the first time, 103-99.

Tonight, the Thunder got their revenge, holding on late to beat New Jersey, in spite of leading most of the game, often times in double digits. But even a miserable 12-point fourth quarter by the Thunder didn't give the Nets enough to win, as they fell 94-85, in a game that was not nearly as close as that score appears.

The loss shows just how much the Nets need Yi, as their shorter bench lacks depth and they don't have the outside shooting to balance Vince Carter, who only shot 2-12 tonight.

Eduardo Najera has gotten more playing time, but his offense doesn't match his tenacious defense—which is sometimes too tenacious, since he's prone to fouls. 

Ryan Anderson, the other beneficiary of Yi's departure, is a rookie, and he can't provide the offense either; he's only cracked double digits twice since Yi was hurt. He's got more athleticism than—and about as much rebounding as—Yi, but isn't the same all-around player.

It just shows how important even a role player like Yi can be. He's not the focus of the offense and defense the way his countryman Yao is, but his absence can be just as debilitating. The Nets have yet to get into the same groove offensively, and on nights like tonight—with stars Carter and Devin Harris both cold as ice—there's no other option to help get them going.

Both Carter and Harris sat the entire fourth quarter, after shooting so poorly and with the Nets behind by a whopping 28 points, and the Nets bench, with nothing to lose, closed the gap to 7 before time ran out. It's hard to come back from two sub-20 point quarters; New Jersey put up 17 in the 2nd and 14 in the 3rd, while OKC scored 27 and 31 in those same frames.

There's no change on Yi's prognosis, as he's still one to two weeks from returning, and that can't come soon enough for the Nets. Right now, they're on the outside looking in on the playoff rankings, and Milwaukee (currently clinging to the eighth playoff spot) just lost their best player, Michael Redd. New Jersey would love to take advantage of that, but they'll have a hard time doing that without Yi.