BROOKLYN— Barclays Center may never have been louder than it was on Monday night. Normally, the Brooklyn arena is filled with many fans of Nets opponents and it would take something extraordinary or abnormal for the crowd to really get to a decibel level worthy of the postseason.
After a three-game stretch that signified one of the lowest points in his disappointing tenure with the team, Deron Williams energized the Brooklyn Nets and this arena like nothing before seen in this building. Williams, who had missed 13 of his 15 shot attempts over the last two games, scored a playoff career high 35 points on 13-of-25 shooting to go with seven assists and five rebounds in Brooklyn’s 120-115 overtime win against Atlanta in Game 4, evening the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.
The Brooklyn crowd were equal parts stunned, surprised, delirious and ecstatic. Now the 8th-seeded Nets have a best-of-three series with a chance to upend the vaunted 60-win Hawks.
Nets coach Lionel Hollins called Williams’ transcendent performance very satisfying.
“The kid has overcome a lot of adversity,” Hollins said. “with the injuries and with the negativity around his name.”
Before Monday night’s game, Deron Williams’ play was only giving credence to his critics’ arguments. He was too soft, or was playing hurt. Paul Pierce famously said that he didn’t want to be the lead guy and that the pressure was getting to him in New York.
“For him to come out, it showed a lot of character to put on the performance like that, especially when we needed it,” Hollins said. “Because without that performance, I don’t know if we get out of here with a win.”
People openly questioned his confidence; Williams countered that he had thick skin. Hollins defended his point guard to the media, saying that the press was treating him like a pariah.
“I thanked him today after the game,” Williams said. “It means a lot when you’re struggling like that and your coach comes out and defends you the way he did. Says a lot about him and how much he cares about not only me, but this team and our players.”
Williams scored a total of 18 points during the first three games of the series. It looked like the Nets would go silently in the series, a 38-win 8th seed in the Eastern Conference that did not belong in the playoffs.
Then Williams came out aggressively, scoring 11 points in the first quarter and breathing life and vitality into a team and building that normally lacks both.
“It definitely helped to get my confidence going early to see a couple of shots go in because they haven’t gone in the last couple of games before this,” Williams said. “I wanted to start out being aggressive. I pretty much was able to sustain that throughout the game.”
As Williams went Monday, so did the Nets.
Williams hit seven of his 11 threes— the seven a franchise high for a single playoff game— including an impossible heave with 1:53 left in regulation and the shot clock expiring. That gave Brooklyn the lead after being down by as many as 12 in the second half.
“I’m excited about how the team rallied around him,” Hollins said. “That’s what this is about. I thought it was a huge, huge step in unity for our ball club.”
Atlanta lost on Monday despite hitting 13 3-pointers and winning the rebounding battle 55-40, owing the defeat to an other-worldly performance from a player in Williams whose flashes of expected greatness have long eluded players, fans and the Nets franchise.
“That’s the Deron I remember,” said Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver, who played with Williams in Utah. “You know, that’s what he’s capable of.”
Williams was relatively quiet in overtime, but his teammates picked up the slack in the extra session. Bojan Bogdanovic’s wing three with 1:24 left gave Brooklyn the lead for good, and the crowd reached a fever pitch in its appreciation for Williams. Perhaps they were just as surprised and shocked as they were happy to see Williams finally give his home fans just a one-night glimpse at what they had always hoped for.
“He controlled the game from start to finish. He was that guy that I believe, and everybody in this locker room, believes he is,” said Nets guard Jarrett Jack. “He put us on his back and we followed him to the finish line.”
If Brooklyn can still win while giving up so many 3-pointers and getting dominated on the glass, they could stand a chance over the duration of the series. With Paul Millsap still dealing with a shoulder sprain and Al Horford dealing with an injured finger, Brook Lopez has been able to really assert himself inside. He had 26 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks on Monday and what was a perceived disadvantage in the post could turn out in the Nets’ favor.
Williams said that he needs to remain aggressive going into Wednesday’s Game 5 at Philips Arena, but his track record ensures that everyone should and will be skeptical that D-Will can put on this kind of performance again. Williams could easily go back into his passive shell, the Nets could lose the next two games and it would be business as usual.
But for at least one majestic Monday, 30-year-old Deron Michael Williams electrified the normally dull arena and showed everyone what he’s still truly capable of.
Shlomo Sprung is a national columnist for SheridanHoops who focuses on analytics, profiles and features. He is also the web editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. A 2011 graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, he has previously worked for the New York Knicks, The Sporting News, Business Insider and other publications. Follow him on Twitter.