Listless Nets’ Inadequacy In Middle Exposed In Loss To Lakers
Every NBA team goes through games like how the Nets fared in Los Angeles on Sunday night. Those back ends of back-to-backs on the road, where the mind is willing but the body just isn’t quite up to the task. Shots are a tad off and steps aren’t as quick, whether it’s containing the dribble or getting after loose balls.
Still, if any game exposed the Nets’ fatal flaw, it was the Lakers’ 116-103 victory. Center Anthony Davis dropped 37 points and grabbed 18 boards in absolutely toying with Brooklyn’s undersized lineup.
It didn’t help that converted backup center Ben Simmons was a late scratch with a sore knee or that starter Nic Claxton exited the contest in the third quarter due to a left eye contusion. However, Davis was making mincemeat of the Nets in the first half too, with 16 points and 11 rebounds, including a ghastly six off the offensive glass.
All the switching was problematic as well, since Davis towered over the likes of wings Royce O’Neale and Joe Harris after rolling to the basket. I thought Nets Head Coach Jacque Vaughn made a bad gamble by going extra small down the stretch, removing Markieff Morris to leave Kevin Durant at the five. Once Davis returned from his rest with 8:28 remaining, a four-point Lakers lead ballooned to a 17-point advantage some three minutes later.
NBA.com’s tracking wasn’t updated as of this writing, but from my vantage on my couch it looked like Morris did as well as anyone in his limited minutes going against Davis. Morris has struggled finding a rhythm, which is common for veterans receiving inconsistent playing time, and you don’t want him switching onto quick guards like Russell Westbrook, which actually happened a few times with the expected ugly results, but he does space the floor (6-for-15 from three-point range this season) and the team usually ends up being a net positive with him on the floor (he sports a team-high plus-19 net rating), including on Sunday night.
Not that Morris is the long-term solution to the Nets’ hole in the middle. Claxton has been noticeably improved on both ends, getting stronger and gaining better understanding of what needs to be done to properly execute the team’s help defense. He’s even driving to the hoop with greater success. But let’s not forget that Claxton, 23, is still raw in a lot of areas, not just free throw shooting, which dropped to 37.5% on the season after two misses on Sunday. Only Morris and the rusty Simmons foul more often per 36 minutes than Claxton and he is 4-for-15 on shots from outside the restricted area, according to NBA.com.
You don’t need to be an NBA insider to see that this team needs an upgrade at center. Nets General Manager Sean Marks told the media before the season that he wanted to give this group a good look before making changes. Well, Claxton is certainly fine as a starter on many nights, but he will get bullied by the bulkier big men. Simmons is totally miscast at the five, clueless as to how to anchor a defense, protect the rim, or rebound, and reduced to setting screens on offense. Morris barely plays and Day’Ron Sharpe almost never plays outside of garbage time.
Playing KD at the five diminishes his impact in other defensive areas, such as his ability to keep ballhandlers in front of him and his elite weak-side help. And does Vaughn really want his best player to expend so much energy battling bigger bodies in the paint? Filling a hole in the floor by removing part of the roof isn’t a great strategy.
The Nets (6-8) aren’t going to be facing non-threats in the middle like Charlotte’s Mason Plumlee and New York’s Jericho Sims every night. In fact, Davis was their first real challenge at the position in about two weeks and in their next four games, they will be going against Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis, who just torched Golden State with a 26-point, 22-rebound effort, Portland’s Jusuf Nurkic (assuming he’ll be back from his adductor strain), Memphis’ voracious offensive rebounder Steven Adams, and, to top things off, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, who only racked up 101 points in his last two outings.
That’s quite a gauntlet for a team that’s 29th in the league in defensive rebounding (and just 22nd in their last six games where they’ve been more connected without suspended superstar Kyrie Irving, who will continue to sit out until the Nets organization is satisfied he has met all their requirements for reinstatement). In these upcoming games, the Nets won’t be able to switch their way out of trouble like they usually have been doing or else the smaller Nets defender will be at the mercy of the opposing big man.
Unfortunately, size matters in the NBA and Marks has seemingly had a blind spot for this throughout his tenure. Last season, he attempted to piece together a center rotation using aging bigs like Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge while Claxton developed. Somehow, this season’s plan is worse.
It’s fixable, but it will require that Marks understands how big of a problem this is first. All the evidence he’d need is in Sunday’s game tape.