Who Needs A Big 3? Brown Growing In Role As Nets’ Third Fiddle
The Nets version of the Big 3 is history, with James Harden traded to Philadelphia in February for a package that included two-time All-Star Ben Simmons, who hasn’t suited up once for Brooklyn due to a herniated disc in his back.
If, then, you’re looking for the next-most important Nets piece to ride with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as they head into the play-in round, I’d argue that it’s Bruce Brown.
With Simmons sidelined indefinitely and James Johnson waived, the Nets are low on tough on-ball defenders. Aside from Brown, they have Durant, who you don’t want to overexert on defense, Kessler Edwards, a rookie who will be prone to breakdowns, and Nic Claxton, a center.
That’s pretty much it. As such, Nets Head Coach Steve Nash, who DNP-d Brown a few times early in the season, is now going to have to rely on him for nearly 40 minutes per game come playoff time, especially if the Nets get through the play-in round and face second-seeded Milwaukee. Few in the league guard Bucks wing Khris Middleton with the tenacity of Brown, who held the three-time All-Star to 31.3% shooting (15-for-48) in last year’s seven-game Eastern Conference semifinal matchup, according to NBA.com’s matchup tracking.
Now, even the not-so-humble Brown (“Dang, no questions on an almost triple-double,” Brown joked with the media after his 18/10/8 outing in the Nets’ big win over visiting Cleveland on Friday) would tell you that he is nowhere near the level of his superstar teammates. If KD and Kyrie are Batman and Robin, then Brown is more like Alfred the Butler, doing all the little things to help get the best out of them in their righteous cause.
But those things are consequential nonetheless. Brown defends the opposition’s best perimeter scorer and gets after rebounds and loose balls. He sets good screens and is getting better at making the extra pass off those hard rolls instead of always challenging the trees with difficult shots.
And he plays fast. The Nets have a host of players who are capable at bringing the ball upcourt to set the offense in motion, but when Brown is tasked, you can see Head Coach Steve Nash’s seven-seconds-or-less vision play out on the court. This isn’t Harden slowly walking the ball across the line and dribbling until the shot clock is under 15 seconds; on three consecutive Nets possessions in Friday’s first quarter, Brown raced into the frontcourt to set up quality looks before the retreating Cavs defense knew what hit them, and an 11-10 Brooklyn lead grew to 18-10. In the playoffs, where every possession must be valued, it’s a blessing anytime you can get an easy bucket.
It's also helpful if you have the ability to put the ball in the basket yourself from all three levels. Unfortunately, for the better part of his two seasons in Brooklyn, Brown did almost all his damage in the paint in spite of his listed 6-foot 4 frame. Last season, 214 of his 235 field goals came inside the paint, with another 17 (on 59 attempts, for a gross 28.8% efficiency) from behind the three-point line. This season started along those same lines—in his first 50 games, Brown was shooting 30.8% from deep while all but 17 of his 139 buckets dropped from inside the paint.
However, something started to click during a February 26 showdown in Milwaukee, where the undermanned Nets shocked the Bucks, 126-123, during Durant’s recovery from his sprained MCL. Brown, who always feels the Bucks disrespect him by ignoring him on the perimeter, scored 15 points while making 3-of-5 3s.
That was the start of a 20-game run that has seen Brown average 14.4 points per game, behind only Durant and Irving in that span, with a shooting split of 53/48/78. Brown’s sudden confidence in his ability to nail corner 3s, which he attributes mostly to reps but also mentioned Nets assistant coach Kyle Korver, a legendary marksman, for helping him make adjustments, has made all the difference in the world.
According to NBA.com, the Nets offensive rating with Brown on the court prior to that Bucks game was 106.2, five points per 100 possessions under the team’s scoring rate; since his epiphany, it’s been 120.9 on, nearly three points better than when he has sat.
Of course, as these end-of-season games rose in importance with the Nets fighting to avoid the dreaded 9/10 matchup, Brown hasn’t neglected the things that will get him paid well as a pending free agent after the season. In that same span, Brown has averaged 5.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game. Not only did Brown come within two assists of the triple-double on Friday to put Brooklyn on the precipice of clinching seventh place and the right to host Tuesday’s play-in contest (and Friday’s “if necessary” game as well) with a win against visiting Indiana in the regular season finale on Sunday, he punctuated the effort with a steal and four blocked shots.
Sometimes, even Alfred gets to play a bigger role in the hero game.