Mikal Bridges has been terrific since coming over from Phoenix in the blockbuster trade of superstar Kevin Durant, averaging 25.9 points per game on a shooting split of 49.6/43.9/89.2 over 16 games.
For all his contributions as a Net, however, Bridges is not Kevin Durant.
To be fair, maybe about a dozen or so players in NBA history have shown they can match KD’s offensive gifts, so this is by no means a knock on Bridges. Still, to ask Bridges, who had been a complementary piece on a championship contending Suns squad, to shoulder a KD-type of load is asking for trouble.
Yet that’s what the Nets are in following their third consecutive defeat, a 108-102 loss to visiting Denver on Sunday that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. Brooklyn (39-32, 6-10 since the Durant trade) now sits just one game ahead of Miami for the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed that avoids the play-in round. Next on tap is a pair of tough games against fourth-place Cleveland before the Nets visit Miami for a pivotal matchup on Saturday.
I can’t say for sure whether Bridges is simply regressing to his mean, wearing down under the burden, or that opponents have caught on to what Head Coach Jacque Vaughn has his team doing. What is unmistakable is that Brooklyn’s offense has gone into the tank against three middling-to-poor defensive teams as measured by points allowed per 100 possessions. The Nets even had the rest advantage in the last two contests, with both Denver and Sacramento playing on the back end of a back-to-back.
Bridges, unfortunately, has been smack in the middle of the downward spiral. Everything from his mid-range game to the corner three-pointers that looked nearly automatic a few weeks ago has become erratic He’s still scoring at nearly the same volume; it’s just taking him more shots to get there—he’s averaged 19.3 field goal attempts per game over the last three games, which is about five shots more than his previous career high.
No NBA player has played more total minutes this season than Bridges, who hasn’t missed a game since his junior year of high school. Take out the game the Nets punted in Milwaukee where he only played the first quarter to keep his streak alive and he’s averaging almost 36 minutes per game as a Net.
And those are harder minutes than he’s used to, where he not only has had to continue guarding one of the opposition’s top scorers, but he’s also having to put in more work on the offensive end to make plays on his own.
This is where Vaughn comes in, because the Nets too often get stuck in the rut of one pass-plus-a-three-ball offensive possessions. Even many of the trips where the ball moves a bit, it’s usually just perimeter passing, with few paint touches or off-ball actions. Per NBA.com’s tracking, only Portland has averaged fewer paint touches per game over the last 15 games than Brooklyn and the Nets ranked 23rd in the league in points per paint touch heading into Sunday’s game.
It's as if Vaughn is accepting of having his team play the same way they did before last month’s trade deadline when they boasted Durant and Kyrie Irving, two of the premier isolation and mid-range scorers in the game.
According to those in the know, the Nets have had plenty of success when Vaughn draws up plays after timeouts. Those usually feature actions to free up a shooter for a quality look or a drive of a closeout to force help and rotations.
Thereafter, unfortunately, the Nets offense typically bogs down into spread pick-and-roll from either four-out (when non-shooting center Nic Claxton is the screen-setter and rolling to the rim) or, for small-ball lineups, five-out, where the screener typically pops behind the three-point line.
Outside of the first half of Tuesday’s loss at Oklahoma City, the last three games haven’t been pretty to watch. The Nets rank 29th in field goal percentage and 23rd in three point percentage in that span.
All the clanks during these recent cold stretches have infected Brooklyn’s defensive intensity. Even Bridges is getting toasted these days, with OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver’s Jamal Murray lighting him up in the past week.
I do believe Bridges can be a useful rebuilding block for when Brooklyn aggregates enough talent to return to a more competitive status. Until then, the Nets could be looking at diminishing returns from him and his teammates if they don’t adjust how they go about their offensive game plan.
There is often the 'trade bump' ( remember Devin Harris ) and teams do not know how the new players will be utilized so they have a free pass for a few games.
The Nets offense now is somewhat predictable as you point out .....this is up to JV to sort out or the big extension he received may seem very premature.
Seems a time to broaden the rotation not shrink it and keep fresh legs and minds in there to maximize energy and effort and focus.
Perhaps they feel it is too risky but seems more risky to not do this and go into the ( maybe) playoffs tired and not knowing what is possible with this group.