With Harden Under 100% (And Irving At 0%), The Once Prolific Nets Offense Unable To Overcome Issues On Other End
The Nets, simply put, were built to outscore the rest of the league. Led by transcendent talents Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden, Brooklyn set an NBA record in offensive efficiency last season with 117.3 points scored per 100 possessions—despite various injuries limiting the Big 3 to just seven-plus games together on the court.
The last thing Nets fans were concerned about heading into this highly-anticipated 2021-22 season was whether this team would score points.
Fate, though, is a funny duck. Irving has been effectively banned from all team activities until he opts to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and Harden, who suffered a hamstring strain and multiple setbacks last season, is performing like a fraction of his former self as he tries to work his way back into basketball shape while also gaining a better understanding of what is, and what no longer is, a foul in the act of shooting.
After another desultory performance (14 points on 4-of-12 shooting, 4 turnovers, and laissez-faire defense) in a 106-93 loss to visiting Miami on Wednesday night, the Beard is down to a 16ppg average with a 36/33/93 shooting split on about 6 less free throw attempts per game than his career rate. In a rare admission, Harden has talked about a lack of confidence in his game.
That spells trouble for Brooklyn (2-3). As a team, the Nets hold the NBA’s third-worst offensive rating, though the small size must be emphasized as well as the fact that three of their five opponents boasted top 10 defenses last season. Still, the sore eye test isn’t deceiving, as the Nets have been too dependent on Durant to bail out offensive possessions.
It’s a long season, so the notion that the Nets can wait this out another month or so has merit, but fans can’t help but be concerned. Durant by himself could probably put the Nets on his back to get them into the playoffs, but without the expected help from his fellow superstars, this team isn’t getting much further, which would be a crushing disappointment given the franchise’s championship-or-bust mission.
That’s because the Nets need that prolific offensive production as a cushion for their inherent issues on the defensive end. Having guys on the floor who routinely get targeted by opponents like Harden and Joe Harris means Brooklyn Head Coach Steve Nash must overcompensate with smaller, quicker, and lower-skilled perimeter defenders to play alongside them, such as Bruce Brown, Jevon Carter, and DeAndre’ Bembry. Only Patty Mills has bona fides as a scorer, but he too is susceptible to off nights, like his 1-for-9 (0-for-6 from deep) outing on Wednesday.
Though relatively undersized, Brooklyn actually played pretty well against Miami’s halfcourt sets. Unfortunately, things changed once the Heat’s errant shots came off the rim. Brooklyn surrendered 17 offensive rebounds that turned into 31 Miami points. To get a sense of comparison, the league median for a team last season was about 13 second chance points per game. Therefore, the Nets could have made up the final margin it could have just cut that Heat figure in half to a merely awful 15. It was painful to watch.
It also wasn’t an outlier. Brooklyn bled second-chance points last season as well, when they tied Indiana with a league-most 15.3 points allowed per game. Why does this continue to be, as Nash put it in his postgame remarks, Brooklyn’s Achilles Heel? Again, simple answer: They’re too small and grounded.
Of course, when Miami came out and bludgeoned Brooklyn on the boards in the first quarter on Wednesday, Nash went SMALLER, his default any time he senses a game is getting away from his club.
Funny, my previous column was devoted to the concept that maybe Brooklyn should be playing Paul Millsap more to specifically address their rebounding woes. Well, Nash gave him 15 minutes on Wednesday, including a 9:40 run at the start of the pivotal fourth quarter. However, my theory goes out the window if Nash is going to play him at the 5 instead of at the 4. You still need that second big to cover for Millsap (or any Nets center, for that matter) when they’re out on the perimeter contesting jump shots or helping (sometimes overhelping) on opponent penetration.
Ah, but you can’t, because Harden would have then been exposed by one of the Heat’s perimeter scorers. Unless he’s challenged by being isolated in the post, Harden typically has to be hidden on the opponent’s weakest offensive threat. Otherwise, it’s “Ole!”, as in matador defense.
With the Nets switching all screens out high, too often they’re left with mismatches under the basket. Miami’s advantage on the glass didn’t arise because the Nets weren’t “gang-rebounding,”, every Nets player’s go-to response when you ask them about how they can improve on the defensive backboards. No, if you go back and look (ok, you don’t have to, but I did—all 17 of them—pity me), many of Miami’s offensive rebounds were contested amongst several Nets. Except those Nets players did not have the size or jumping ability to finish those defensive possessions. On one play, Miami star Jimmy Butler followed his own missed layup and laid the ball back in while surrounded by four Men in Black jerseys, the tallest of whom was the six-foot seven Millsap,.
Miami’s seven-foot backup center Dewayne Dedmon had a field day with 14 points and 6 offensive rebounds in 17 minutes. If you can read my scratchy notes, you’d see things like, “Dedmon grabs air ball over help-the-helper Carter,” and “Dedmon over Brown on switch, fouled in act of shooting.” KD, who normally has been a surprisingly strong rebounder for Brooklyn despite his slim frame, was also victimized several times by Dedmon.
By my unofficial count, in 12 of the 17 cases, the bigger Miami player came down with the ball off the glass, with the other five chalked up to bad boxouts (three times Miami goon P.J. Tucker snuck in from the corner unimpeded) and bad luck.
All of this shouldn’t have mattered because if you told fans before the season that the Nets would give up 106 points to the Heat in this game, they’d have been deliriously giddy. Last season, there were games when they reached triple digits in the third quarter. All the Nets needed then was a few stops at key moments and they could pull away from anyone.
That hasn’t been the case against the more physical teams at the start of this season. Until (unless?) Harden regains his offensive supremacy, the Nets are going to have to find a different way to win games, even if it might mean upsetting the apple cart (to be continued).