Late-Game Collapse To Clippers Another Example Of Vaughn Choosing To Die On Inconsistent Hills
Dorian Finney-Smith checked into a close game for the Nets with just under two minutes remaining on Sunday afternoon. On a key defensive possession, he bodied Kawhi Leonard along the sideline, whereupon the Clippers All-Star forward stepped out of bounds.
And that was all we saw of Finney-Smith over the last eight minutes of an epic Nets collapse. Brooklyn allowed the superstar-laden Clippers to go on an inconceivable 22-0 run to close the game with a 125-114 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
Finney-Smith had played a major role in Brooklyn’s defensive scheme over the first three quarters—his length and agility were a big reason why Leonard was limited to just 7 points on 2-for-11 shooting. When center Nic Claxton encountered foul trouble early in the third quarter, Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale stepped up to allow the Nets to play maintain a double-digit lead while playing small.
Once free from Finney-Smith’s hounding, though, Leonard torched Nets to the tune of 14 points over the last 6:45 as Brooklyn melted in the L.A. heat.
So much for building on Friday’s strong road win over the Lakers. Instead of going home happy with a 2-1 trip to the West, blowing this game and Wednesday’s heartbreaking 105-103 loss at lowly Portland will be the takeaways.
Nets Head Coach Jacque Vaughn really didn’t have any answers to the discombobulation, other than saying that his team slowed down and played into the Clippers’ hands by hunting one-on-one opportunities when it was fast-paced ball movement that produced their 18-point lead late into the third quarter.
As the game was getting away from the Nets, I was apoplectic that Vaughn kept riding the same group down the stretch. Finney-Smith’s and O’Neale’s shooting strokes were off, but so was Cam Johnson’s, so what exactly was he bringing that warranted the crunch time minutes? It certainly wasn’t his ability to guard Leonard.
If Vaughn was looking for offense, how about utilizing Lonnie Walker IV? Is it really possible that he was restricted to 10 minutes of action on Sunday to manage a previous hamstring injury after going off for 15 points in 13 minutes against the Lakers? Walker was given about six minutes of run during the second quarter, scoring eight points, but then barely touched the ball in his four minutes of action at the start of the fourth quarter.
Sorry, but the veteran minimum free agent happens to be one of Brooklyn’s best offensive options. Walker is shooting a career-high (by a mile) 47.5% on three-pointers, which would rank second in the league if the minimum standard was 100 3s taken. And he’s a three-level scorer as well, making 44.4% of his pull-up two-pointers and shooting 66% at the rim, per NBA.com. The Nets shouldn’t be diminishing him in favor of more highly-paid players.
Yet Vaughn stuck with offensive zeros like Johnson (0-for-2 in the fourth quarter) and Claxton, whose only field goal attempt of the frame was a corner three-pointer, just his second of the season, with a little over four minutes remaining and the Nets’ lead dwindled to six points. Obviously, it wasn’t the wisest idea.
The Nets (17-25), who owned the NBA’s fourth-toughest remaining schedule coming into Sunday’s contest, according to Matt Moore of Action network HQ, have little margin for error, yet keep making too many of them. Vaughn’s contribution to this 5-16 stretch has been the differing standards depending on the player, as if playing time was a political calculation. None of them, including Mikal Bridges, has earned the rope Vaughn has given them at various points. Brooklyn’s superstar era, where they could rely on the supreme skills of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to generate buckets with individual efforts, is far beyond their rearview mirror by now. In this case, Johnson had done little to deserve his spot in the late-game action, so either Finney-Smith or Walker should have been the choice.
Until he stepped up his game in the last week, Spencer Dinwiddie was the struggling player who was shooting the Nets out of games. However, even when Dennis Smith Jr. returned from back woes and was the more productive player, Vaughn stuck with Dinwiddie—to ill effects.
These apparent blind spots make it seem like Vaughn keeps choosing to die on inconsistent hills. It’s killing whatever chance this team has to reach the bare minimum play-in seed.