What Just Happened? How The Shorthanded Nets Shocked The Garden
Good thing no one on the Nets takes heed of my unhinged social media rants.
Midway through the second quarter of Wednesday’s affair against the Knicks, Brooklyn was getting embarrassed, down by 54-26 and looking like they had better things to do that evening. I felt that Head Coach Steve Nash’s game plan was trash, starting three non-shooters with James Johnson as point forward against a wallowing Knicks club that should have been treating the game like their Super Bowl.
The Nets seemed doomed to fail. I tweeted that it was too bad that the Nets couldn’t just walk off the court and take a forfeit. Why expend energy chasing a game they couldn’t possibly win when they have another one on Thursday versus Washington?
The Nets, thankfully, did not throw in the towel, and ended up tying the franchise record for their largest comeback victory by shocking the Madison Square Garden crowd with a 111-106 victory. All that failed miserably in the first half suddenly reversed themselves after the intermission.
Like I did in the aftermath of the previous 28-point miracle at Sacramento almost three years ago, this post breaks down how it happened. Let’s start with the obvious:
1) Cam Thomas channeling D’Angelo Russell
Thomas’ fourth quarter outburst, with 16 points in the frame on 7-for-10 shooting, didn’t match Russell’s ridiculous 27-point binge, but then again, Thomas, 20, is just a rookie reserve, not the team’s star. With All-Stars Kevin Durant (MCL sprain), Kyrie Irving (unvaccinated), and Ben Simmons (conditioning ramp-up) plus NBA three-point champ Joe Harris (ankle surgery) all inactive, though, the Nets really had few other go-to options down the stretch.
That Nash put his trust in Thomas, who had gone 2-for-11 from the floor through the first three quarters, instead of Seth Curry or Patty Mills, speaks volumes about how far this kid has come this season.
Thomas proved deserving of Nash’s faith, making proper decisions on pick-and-rolls, including a nice find when he was about to be double-teamed to center LaMarcus Aldridge at the foul line as the clock ticked under a minute to play. Aldridge’s patented mid-range jumper put the Nets up, 106-103.
No one will forget Brooklyn’s next possession—with the shot clock winding down, Thomas went one-on-one with Knicks rookie guard Quentin Grimes. Thomas stepped back to launch a 29-footer that not even Nash had high hopes for. Of course, the ball went through the net to give the Nets a 6-point lead with 7.7 seconds remaining and they held on from there.
It wasn’t the first time Thomas came up clutch for Brooklyn this season—his floater with 1.4 seconds remaining in overtime beat the Spurs in January—and it probably won’t be the last. He has all the tools to have a long career as a Vinnie Johnson microwave scorer type.
And if he can improve his three-point shot (the bomb was the only one he knocked down in five attempts on Wednesday and he’s shooting just 27% from deep on the season) and his defensive awareness, he could be much, much more.
2) Welcome back to the Nets’ security blanket
KD, Kyrie, Simmons, Harris—and of course James Harden before his trade to Philadelphia last week—they were always atop the list of missing Nets during most of their 11-game losing streak before the deadline. However, don’t underestimate the absence of Aldridge, who missed the last seven of those defeats with a sore ankle.
In his first two games back, including Monday’s 109-85 rout over Sacramento, Aldridge has averaged 18.5 points and 9 rebounds on 60% shooting from the floor in just 20.5 minutes per game. He scored 11 of his 18 points and grabbed 8 of his 10 rebounds (5 on the offensive glass that helped the Nets put up an unreal 14 second-chance points) in the fourth quarter on Wednesday.
Aldridge has become Brooklyn’s comfort food, the old reliable walking bucket they can always force feed when the offense gets stagnant. Still leading the league in mid-range field goal percentage (minimum 40 such attempts) after going 3-for-6 on Wednesday, it was his willingness to work for the dirty baskets underneath that proved to be a huge difference-maker.
Part of the reason he was so successful was that…
3) Mitchell Robinson’s foul trouble was a death knell for the Knicks
The Knicks fourth-year big man was at the center of several turning points in the second half, starting on the Nets’ first possession when Andre Drummond beat Robinson to the hoop for an and-1 opportunity (he missed the free throw). At that point, New York was still up by 19 points. However, the removal of the Knicks’ sole rim protector (Nerlens Noel was out with a sore foot, leaving aging Taj Gibson as the backup) with four fouls seemed to motivate the Nets into attacking the basket more. By the time Robinson returned later in the frame, the Nets had cut the deficit to seven points.
But with Robinson back on the floor, the Knicks immediately upped their lead into double digits, taking an 87-73 advantage into the final quarter. Just two minutes later, however, Robinson hacked Aldridge on a putback attempt and it was back to the bench, though with the Knicks owning a fairly substantial 15-point cushion.
Again, the Nets proceeded to go on a layup drill with Gibson patrolling the paint, scoring on 7 of 8 possessions to put them within 97-92 with about six minutes remaining. All told, the Nets made up 22 points of ground in about 11 minutes of second-half action when Gibson was on the floor.
Playing with five fouls in crunch time, Robinson may not have been as aggressive as he could have been. But then again, maybe no one was stopping Thomas’ roll on this thrilling night.