The Nets Owned The Hawks. Now, What Comes Next?

BrooklynNets.com

Before anyone gets overly excited by the Nets’ second consecutive takedown of the Hawks at Barclays Center with Saturday’s 114-102 victory, understand that this was basically the same rotation that got overwhelmed in Orlando in Brooklyn’s previous game.

Sometimes, one team has another’s number, and Atlanta has now lost 21 of the last 27 meetings between the two clubs, including three of the four matchups this season. Though the Hawks saw their lead over the Nets for the 10^th and final Eastern Conference play-in seed dwindle to two games, they sure didn’t treat their trip to Brooklyn with their opponent’s urgency. It’s not that often you see the Nets ripping balls out of opponents’ hands or even getting physical during paint battles.

Offensively, few Brooklyn possessions were bogged down by overdribbling and the floor was more often than not properly spaced. The ball was popping, and the Nets took advantage by knocking down 37-of-78 (47.4%) of their three-point attempts over the two games. This was a team that came into the mini-series shooting 34.7% from deep over its previous 37 games, the league’s third-worst efficiency during that span.

They did this without the services of two players who were projected during the preseason to be focal points of their attack. Cam Thomas (sprained ankle) and Ben Simmons (left leg “soreness”, a diagnosis for which, for the first time in my memory, the Nets felt compelled to issue a public correction in advance of a game) were both in new Head Coach Kevin Ollie’s starting lineup a mere week ago in Minnesota.

For the moment, let’s assume that the Nets have found something this weekend with a starting five of Dennis Schroder, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Nic Claxton that can be carried over to future games. That group sported a plus-27.6 net rating during their 34 minutes together (small sample size disclaimer), per NBA.com, and that included getting outscored, 15-7, to start Saturday’s contest.

For a change, the Nets didn’t let their early shooting struggles negatively affect their mojo. They didn’t feel the need to suddenly hoist three-pointers on their first touch as if they could make up the deficit with one such stroke. They ratcheted up their defense and took better care of the ball to creep back into it during the second quarter and then blew the doors off the Hawks’ (figurative) nest with a 54-40 second half.

It could just be me, but it seemed easier for Brooklyn to accomplish such steadfastness with this rotation. So, when Thomas and Simmons do return, does Ollie upset the apple cart? Simmons and Thomas might not treat a reserve stint the way, say, Cam Johnson has since he was sent to the bench for a few games. Johnson has since been noticeably more aggressive on both ends, as if his pride was tested, and dropped 52 points on the Hawks in the two games.

The shorter bench also allowed Ollie to keep his rotation to a tight nine. The four who saw regular time—Day’Ron Sharpe, Lonnie Walker IV, Dennis Smith Jr., and Jalen Wilson—may not have scored a ton, but they generally got after it, making hustle plays all over the court and on both boards to secure possessions. It’s sometimes hard to notice, but Wilson, a rookie two-way player who signed a standard NBA contract on Friday, has a knack for being around the ball and finishing broken plays.

How will Ollie handle the additional bodies when they become available? I’m hoping he will have the fortitude to stick with what just worked until it doesn’t. Instead, it’s possible he may feel internal pressure to start Thomas and Simmons and expand his rotation so everyone plays some. It would be so easy to make Wilson the odd man out.

Except it was the ensuing awful fits and spacing issues—undersized lineups, multiple non-shooters sharing the floor, everyone watching Thomas go to work in isolation, etc.--that have been partly responsible for what got Brooklyn off its game in the first place.

Look, I wouldn’t be opposed if Ollie decides to swap out Simmons for Smith and Thomas for Walker in the near future, provided they earn their way to stay on the court. And that means both Simmons and Thomas need to produce better team-oriented actions, such as defensive diligence on-and-off the ball and movement with-and-without the ball in their hands. It’s not just about the couple of highlights each can deliver in any given game; Ollie needs to see consistent two-way efforts.

The Nets have perhaps their last opportunity of the season this week to go on a nice run with home games against injury-depleted Memphis and Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia before hitting the road for a pair of games versus tanking Detroit and Charlotte.

How Ollie proceeds will have a large impact on whether the Nets can actually use these Hawks victories as a springboard to make this a race. What a waste it would be if Ollie lets subtraction by additions ruin that opportunity.