Healthier Nets Unleashing Offensive Barrages To Avoid Traps
Trap game? What’s a trap game?
As Brooklyn’s sole Barclays Center event sandwiched by a pair of three-game road trips, Monday’s affair against bottom-feeding San Antonio had all the trappings of… well, you know. But when you’re on a burner like the Nets, who won their 12th consecutive game by stomping on the Spurs, 139-103, no one wants to see the streak end, making each contest the day’s priority.
Like Saturday night’s 123-106 rout in Charlotte, the Nets led wire-to-wire, building up a significant enough cushion to allow superstar forward Kevin Durant to rest the entire fourth quarter. Fellow star Kyrie Irving joined KD on the bench for Monday’s final frame, as Brooklyn never let the Spurs feel like an upset was possible from the opening tip.
That hasn’t always been the case with this team in their superstar era, when lesser opponents took advantage of substandard Brooklyn efforts, especially on nights where Durant and Irving weren’t in peak form. It was only last week when shorthanded Atlanta, playing without All-Star guard Trae Young and two other starters, nearly stole one but for a buzzer-beating three-point miss by guard Dejounte Murray.
The good news is that, like that Hawks squeaker, the Nets haven’t dropped too many games this season against the league’s sub-.500 members, and none since a November 13 loss at the Lakers on the back end of a back-to-back (though the November 22 loss in Philadelphia was just as inexcusable given the absence of Sixers All-Stars Joel Embiid and James Harden plus dynamic guard Tyrese Maxey). Still, too many others were way too close for comfort, forcing Durant and Irving to log heavy minutes.
Nets Head Coach Jacque Vaughn has done a better job managing his key players’ loads during the winning streak, with Irving the only player averaging over 35 minutes per game. It’s been easier now that the team is getting closer to full strength, even if every day brings a new malady to notate on the injury list. Whether or not there’s any causation from the added depth, the Nets have been ridiculously good down the stretch of “clutch games”, where the margin was within five points during the last five minutes. Per NBA.com, Brooklyn has won seven clutch games in a row, outscoring opponents, 74-54, in 26 such minutes in this span.
While the recent competition level hasn’t been particularly daunting—San Antonio and Charlotte are two of the worst defensive teams in the league--the Nets did secure statement victories over Milwaukee at home and at Cleveland. Against the league’s No 2 and No. 3 defenses, the Nets produced over 120 points per 100 possessions in each game, which would lead the NBA if it were maintained over the entire season.
The offense in general has been astounding during the streak, with Brooklyn shooting over 50% from the field in 10 of the 12 games, with a low of 49.4% and breaching 60% four times. For comparison purposes, the Nets bested 60% shooting six times in the last two seasons combined, when Harden dubbed those teams’ proficiencies “Scary Hours.”
This season’s barrage feels totally different from what went down during Harden’s short-lived Nets tenure. It’s more like the 1927 Murderers’ Row Yankees, who were spearheaded by a pair of All-Time greats in Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig but were so named because of how offensively potent they were up-and-down their lineup. In this instance, though KD and Kyrie are certainly the bell cows, Brooklyn has been receiving offensive contributions from a host of sources.
The Nets sport the third-and-fourth most efficient three-point shooters in NBA history in Seth Curry and Joe Harris while Yuta Watanabe leads the league this season in three-point percentage (including knocking down an insane 65% of his corner three’s) and Royce O’Neale ranks 12th among qualifiers at 43.2% from deep. T.J. Warren is a walking bucket off the bench. Even the non-shooters--center Nic Claxton, tops in the league in field goal percentage at 74.3%, and Ben Simmons, the pace-pusher and connector—have important roles in the offense.
Curry, who has received sporadic minutes this season due to injury/illness and ensuing ramp-ups, calmly stepped into Monday’s starting line up in place of the sick O’Neale and delivered 16 points in three quarters of work. Simmons dished nine assists before the game was 19 minutes old. Watanabe and Warren combined to drop 25 points off the bench. In a 143-113 blowout over injury depleted Golden State two weeks ago, nine Nets reached double figures and two others were a bucket short.
Oh, and KD and Kyrie together tacked on another 52 more points on 21-of-26 shooting, with Irving bringing the house down after a monster put-back slam in the first half.
I’ll leave it to more creative types to affix a different moniker than Scary Hours for what’s going down on the Brooklyn hardwood these days. Yes, there’s more than half the season still to be played, but this healthy Nets squad has the potential to keep generating points at such a historic rate that no one should complain that it’s premature.