Despite all the hype for the NBA’s 75th season opener between the Nets and the Bucks on Tuesday night, it was always going to be, as Brooklyn superstar Kevin Durant put it after his club got trounced, 127-104, “just one game out of 82.” In the grand scheme of things, this result will prove to be irrelevant should these two clubs meet for greater stakes in a best-of-seven series seven months from now.
There were some notable absences on Tuesday, with Milwaukee coming into the contest down a couple of key rotation pieces and then losing star point guard Jrue Holiday in the second quarter with a right heel contusion. And we all know who was missing for Brooklyn.
As such, no one was panicking, not even on on Nets Twitter. Everyone could tell from the preseason that Nets Head Coach Steve Nash still has much to figure out about who to play and when among so many new pieces. So when the rotation jumble to maximize on-court fits continued into the opener, it was mostly met with shrugs.
Center Nicolas Claxton started for just the second time in his career and among the 10 players used by Nash in the first half, none were named “Bruce Brown,” who happened to start Game 7 for Brooklyn in last season’s Eastern Conference semifinal loss to Milwaukee and was effective in his role as a defensive stopper. Guard Jevon Carter and forward James Johnson each received a surprising amount of PT, while forward Paul Millsap came on for a five-minute cameo in the first quarter, grabbed three rebounds, and then grabbed a seat on the bench for the remainder of the night. Curious choices, but nothing to scream about yet.
With so much experimentation to come, what can we take away from this one outing? Here are three things:
1) Energy deficiency still a Nets issue
You knew that Milwaukee would come out super-charged after receiving their NBA Championship rings in the pregame ceremony. The Bucks hit Brooklyn in the proverbial mouth and it took too long for the Nets to respond--and even then it wasn’t with consistent energy.
Nash was most disappointed in his club’s effort in coming away with 50/50 balls, but it was more than that. The Bucks are always going to be the bigger, faster, and more athletic team with their freak of nature Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the way by adding to his unstoppable repertoire every year. The only way for the Nets to compete on their defensive end is to scrap and hustle.
Except, as TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy noted, the Nets too often simply didn’t play hard enough on Tuesday. Despite going with a bigger starting five, the Nets were demolished on the boards, surrendering 16 second-chance points and allowing Milwaukee to attempt an obscene 21 more field goals. Though he was mostly tasked with guarding Bucks star Khris Middleton out on the perimeter, Claxton was expected to help out in the gang rebounding department—yet he didn’t grab a single board in his seven first-quarter minutes as Milwaukee jumped out to a double digit lead.
Elsewhere, Van Gundy also took Claxton, whose conditioning had been questioned by Nash during the preseason, to task for not sprinting back in transition. James Harden is a very underrated post defender, but the nicest way to put it is to say that it looked like he was pacing himself following an arduous recovery from the hamstring strain that hindered his mobility last postseason. Harden was hardly the only culprit on the perimeter, as Milwaukee took advantage of many breakdowns in the Nets’ rotations to basically line their three-pointers up on a tee.
The difference in Brooklyn’s defensive intensity between the 2020-21 regular season and the playoffs was night-and-day and you can tell that this will continue to be a thorn in Nash’s side all through this season.
Too bad. The Nets’ off-the-charts offensive talent and Basketball IQ can allow them to get away with inconsistent energy and effort on many nights. Against the defending champs, though, that wasn’t going to cut it.
2) One-touch Patty Mills is dynamite, but…
Reason number 6,891 why I should never judge a player, especially a veteran, by how he looks in the preseason. The Nets’ prized free agent acquisition, using their mid-level exception, no less, came off the bench to knock down all seven of his three-point attempts, tying the NBA record for three-point makes in a player’s debut with a team and keeping Brooklyn within striking distance until Milwaukee finally blew it too far open in the fourth quarter.
Most impressive about Mills’ outburst was the release. NBA.com’s tracking data for the game wasn’t updated as of this writing, but it seemed that all of those 3s were in-and-out of Mills’ hands in a nanosecond. What an awesome shooting display.
Mills’ off-the-dribble game, however, was a different story. He misfired on all four of his two-pointers, including a pair of driving layups. While he was credited with two assists and didn’t turn the ball over, he still seems to me more like a guy you want running into the open to receive passes from James Harden rather than the guy who can create offense on his own when Harden rests.
3) To switch, or not to switch
How many times did a Brooklyn defender get screened and seemed unsure whether he should stick with the screener or fight his way through it to the ballhandler? How often did the man guarding the screener appear similarly unsure? And how often did all that hesitation lead to a wide-open look for Milwaukee?
With help from then assistant coach Mike D’Antoni, Nash brought a “switch everything” foundation to Brooklyn’s defense last season. It sounds so simple, especially for players like KD and Harden who expend so much energy on offense, but it can look lazy when it’s not executed with the proper rotations and “scram switches” on the back end to protect against mismatches.
Now factor in Antetokounmpo, who is a problem no matter who is guarding him. When that defender gets screened, though, a simple switching game isn’t always the best answer. Giannis can bull his way to the basket against smaller defenders and either shoot over or get around bigger ones. His passing out of double teams is also exceptional. I’m sure the six-foot Mills did the best he could the few times he was switched onto Giannis, but I can’t imagine that was in the game plan.
If Antetokounmpo is the pick-and-roll ballhandler, the best bet is still to go under the screen, no matter his long-range shooting improvements. When he’s the screener for a player like Middleton, you do have to switch on the opposite side of the screen to prevent Middleton from getting a clean look, but then the other big on the floor has to know to cheat over to Antetokounmpo’s side to both cut off the roll and box him out away from the offensive glass. Too often, the Nets found themselves with their bigs out on the perimeter while leaving their smaller players to fend for themselves in their battles underneath.
Brooklyn will find itself in a similar pickle on Friday in Philadelphia, where center Joel Embiid is more than equipped to devour mismatches off switched screens. Fortunately, if the Nets’ glitches are still not fixed then, that will still only count as Game 2 of 82.
1. The Bucks seem to be Joe Harris' kryptonite. The issues he had in the finals were here again. They bucks to an amazing job of running Harris off the three point line. Then they do an amazing job of protecting the rim when he goes to the hoop. Obviously Giannis is a big part of this - but so is Lopez. There defense is just fantastic. If there is a playoff series against the Bucks, Harris needs to understand that the rim is just not open for him.
2. I recall the start of last season Spencer Dinwiddie threw what felt like 100 force lobs to Jarrett Allen. Almost in identical fashion Harden seemed to force 100 lobs to Claxton. I don't know if this is Nash's coaching or just history repeating itself, but Harden needs to tone it down ALOT. Almost every lob was a fail. Bad pass, sloppy hands, bad timing. Yes, a lob looks amazing and Harden and Claxton are a great duo - but stop forcing the issue. As mentioned earlier - the Bucks do amazing job of clogging the paint. Stop forcing lobs. It leads to turnovers, which leads to easy fast breaks for the other team.
3. Where's Bruce Brown? The guy has proven himself. He defends. He works hard. He gets 50/50 balls. And he makes smart plays. If not starting, he needs to be in the 8 man rotation.
4. Aldridge looks done. Honestly, he looked done in the 5 games last season, but he was at least a useful offensive option when Durant was out. It looked worse now. He's just too slow for the modern NBA game.
5. Harden has to give more effort. He is so talented and smart, but he needs to be more aggressive when the ball isn't in his hands. Standing 35 feet from the basket when off-ball is a waste.
My opinion, go with Griffin at the 5 and Bruce Brown at the 3. You get more hustle, more effort, and flexibility.