Rookie Favors leads Nets over Maccabi Haifa in exhibition opener

Rookie Favors leads Nets in exhibition opener

NEWARK, N.J. — Rookie Derrick Favors had 14 points and nine rebounds, leading the New Jersey Nets to a 108-70 exhibition victory over Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli Premier League on Sunday night.

Favors, the No. 3 pick in the draft, energized the Nets with three fast-break dunks in the opening period. He scored 12 points in the first half as the Nets took a 56-43 lead.

“He was good,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “He was in the right spots on defense and he was decisive on offense. He ran the floor well and got out well in the break. For his first professional game, he did some good things.”

The 6-foot-10 Favors had to deal with trade talk as camp opened, before a four-team deal that would have sent him to Denver and landed All-Star Carmelo Anthony in New Jersey collapsed.

“It feels good not having to worry about trade rumors and all that stuff,” Favors said.

“I thought I did OK running the floor and giving some energy off the bench. “I’m just an athletic player who likes to dunk. I wouldn’t say I had a great day. It was an OK day. I have some work to do, but it was nice to see some of my hard work pay off.”

Newcomer Anthony Morrow also scored 14 points. Devin Harris had 12, Brook Lopez and Travis Outlaw each added 11, and Johan Petro 10.

Morrow made four 3-pointers, giving the Nets a much-needed perimeter presence. He hit two straight 3-pointers in the opening stages of the third quarter, giving New Jersey a 64-45 lead with 10:06 remaining in the period.

The attendance was announced at 5,174 for the Nets’ first true contest in their temporary home, the Prudential Center, but the actual crowd was about half of that total. The Nets will play in Newark until their new home, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, is completed.

Sylven Landesburg scored 24 points for Maccabi Haifa, which was playing in the United States for the first time.