When the Brooklyn Nets traded for a perennial All-Star and former league MVP to reunite him with his former teammates with the Oklahoma City Thunder and their perennial All-Star point guard, they put themselves in the conversation of being a real contender for the NBA title this season and the following season. While they have shown offensively that they can compete with the best in the NBA, they showed in two of their first three games together that they have to get on the same page not just offensively but defensively as well.
The Nets (10-8) in their first game with their
new trio of perennial All-Stars Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden on
Wednesday night, they sparkled offensively combining for 96 points, but it was a
147-135 loss at the Cleveland Cavaliers (8-7), which snapped their four-game
winning streak.
Durant was incredible with 38 points, 12
rebounds, eight assists, and four block shots on 12 for 25 shooing and 11 for
13 from the free throw line. Irving, in his first game back after a five-game
absence because of personal reasons/Coronavirus (COVID-19) health and safety
protocols had 37 points and three block shots on 15 for 28 shooting. Harden had
a triple-double in his first three games with the Nets with 21 points, 12
assists, 10 rebounds, and two steals on 6 for 14 shooting.
Offensively, the Nets “Big Three” was
spectacular as Durant had his fifth double-double on the season. His 11th
straight game of 25-plus points, which is tied for No. 3 in NBA history by a
player in his 13th season or longer.
Harden had his second triple-double in his
first three games as a Net.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the
big scoring nights by Durant and Irving was the first time in Nets history to
have two players scored at least 35 points and have a teammate register a
triple-double in a single-game.
When it came to crunch time though, the Nets
trio combined to scored 22 points on 7 for 17 shooting in clutch time (score
within five points the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime),
with Irving and Harden combining to shoot 4 for 13 in that stretch.
Harden according to Second Spectrum, ran
14 of the Nets’ 34 isolation plays in the loss at the Cavaliers. In the three
minutes Harden was on the floor by himself, the Nets point differential was a
-11.
When Irving was on the floor with Harden
for five minutes, the Nets point differential was a -3. When he was on the
floor with Durant for eight minutes, the Nets were a -7.
The Harden/Durant combination, who played
together with the Thunder for from 2009-12 worked the best as in their seven
minutes on the court, the Nets were a +6.
With all the Nets new “Big Three” on the
floor together, the Nets were a +3 in their 36 minutes.
The Nets on this night really got taken to
the cleaners defensively as the Cavaliers shot 51.4 percent from the field,
20/40 (50 percent) from three-point range. They turned 16 Nets turnovers into
21 points. Outscored the Nets in the paint 64-48 and 20-17 in second change
points. The 147 points the Cavaliers registered is the third most in franchise
history.
Collin Sexton really gave the Nets
problems all night long as he scored a career-high 42 points on 16 for 29 from
the field with five assists, and five boards on 16 for 29 from the field,
including 5 for 11 from three-point range. He scored at one point 20 straight
points from the first overtime to the second overtime, with 15 of those points
on 4 for 5 from three-point range coming in the second five minutes, where the
Nets were outscored by the Cavaliers 20-8 in the second overtime.
In clutch time Sexton scored 21 points,
the most by a Cavs player in the last 25 seasons.
As well as Sexton played in the Nets loss
on Wednesday night, he was not the only Cavalier giving them problems. Cedi
Osman had 25 points with seven rebounds and seven assists on 4 for 9 from
three-point range. Jarrett Allen, who along with Taurean Prince who were dealt
to the Cavaliers in the deal for Harden played well also with Allen registering
12 points, 11 rebounds and four block shots. Prince had 17 points and seven boards
making 3 for 5 from three-point range.
“We’re not so much consumed on what we can
do. We’re more less responsible for putting these pieces together and making it
work,” Irving said postgame. “And clearly offensively it clearly wasn’t enough
tonight, you know. We still needed to get stops on the other end. So, that’s
going to be the tale of our season is how committed are we to that end of the
floor.”
Harden echoed those same sentiments saying
that it is all about “learning” from your mistakes in those losses and repeating
those same mistakes. He did say the team is headed in the right direction, and
with film to watch on how they can improve, especially defensively when it
comes to switching and grasping the defensive principles of first-year head
coach in Hall of Famer Steve Nash.
“This journey together is going to be fun,”
Durant said postgame. “It was a tough first start, especially it was an up-and-down
game for us. But I like where we are.”
Things did not get better for the Nets on
Friday night as they dropped another one to the Cavaliers 125-113, suffering
their second straight loss, sustaining consecutive losses to a LeBron James-less
Cavaliers squad for the first time since 2003. The Cavaliers have won the first
two games of the season series and earned their third straight win overall.
The Nets were without Durant, who sat out for
rest as he is coming back from a ruptured Achilles sustained 18 months back in Game
5 of the 2019 NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors.
Irving scored a season-high 38 points on
14 for 24 from the field, including 4 for 9 from three-point range. Harden had
19 points, 11 assists and five rebounds, also going 4 for 9 from three-point
range.
Irving scored 25-plus points for the eighth
time in his nine games played this season and scored 35-plus points in consecutive
games for the first time since Jan. 2015 while with the Cavaliers.
While the Nets scored 110-plus points for
the 11th straight game, adding to their franchise record, they were
outscored in the paint again 70-46; were out-rebounded 50-29, including 13-6 on
the offensive glass, and were outscored 18-7 in second chance points.
Sexton had another strong game with 25
points and nine assists. Drummond, who had 13 points and seven rebounds versus
the Nets on Wednesday had 19 points, 16 rebounds, and two steals on Friday
night. Allen also had 19 points with six rebounds against his former team. Larry
Nance, Jr. also had a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Prince
had 14 points.
While the Cavaliers came back to earth
from three-point range going 8 for 25 on Friday night versus the Nets, they
still shot over 50 percent from the floor again at 51.7.
To put how bad the Nets have been defensively
in their two-game set at the Cavaliers, they have been out-rebounded 100-81;
been outscored in the paint 134-94; and outscored 38-24 in second-chance
points. The 134 points allowed in the paint represents the most by the Nets in
a two-game span in the last 25 years.
“Just showing up to the gym is not good
enough,” Nash said postgame after the Nets second loss at the Cavaliers. “We’re
playing people that I think are excited to play and compete against our team, and
they’re going to bring it every night, and we have to match that.”
The Nets did get back on track on Saturday
night with a 128-124 win versus the Miami Heat (6-9), snapping their two-game
losing streak, and improving to 3-2 with the arrival of Harden, including a 1-1
mark with Durant, Irving, and Harden in the lineup.
Durant had 31 points on 11 for 19 from the
field, including 4 for 7 from three-point range with two block shots. Irving
had 18 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter with seven assists, and six
rebounds on 10 for 17 from the field, including 3 for 5 from three-point range.
Harden had another double-double with 12 points and 11 assists, with seven boards.
Durant had his five straight game scoring 30-plus points and registered his 12th straight game with 25-plus points, a new Nets record, surpassing the eight straight such games by former then New Jersey Net Hall of Famer Bernard King in 1979. Durant’s 13 games of 20-plus points to start this season is also a new Nets record, surpassing the eight straight by Irving last season and by former Net Richard Jefferson.
While the Nets gave up over 120 points
again, they did out-rebound the Heat 50-45; were only outscored in the paint
46-44 and in second chance points 9-8. Their three-point defense was also
better as the Heat shot just 13 for 46 (28.3 percent) from three-point range.
Two other main issues for the Nets since
the trade has been turnovers and finding offensive balance. They committed 17
turnovers versus the Heat on Saturday night that led to 22 points to the
visitors.
In their first loss at the Cavaliers, Jeff
Green, who was 4 for 7 from three-point range and DeAndre Jordan were the only
other Nets to score in double figures with 16 and 13 points respectably.
Only two other Nets scored in double
figures in the second loss at the Cavaliers on Friday night when Green scored
13 points, while Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had 11 points, going 3 for 7 from
three-point range.
When the Nets made the deal for James
Harden to team up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on Jan. 14, it was clear
that the Brooklyn Nets want to be in the mix as an NBA title contender.
On paper, this is trio has the makings of
doing something special, especially on offense.
The Nets have scored as mentioned 110-plus
points in a team-record no 12 consecutive games, including scoring 120-plus
points in their last four home games.
The trio of Durant, Irving, and Harden
also in the early stages of their maturation respect and want to make this
work.
“Playing the game that love, I’m grateful.
So, I never take it for granted, and then also to be, you know, playing with
Kevin Durant, James Harden—just those names alone, you know, just those names
alone right now, just like we’re having some fun. But it’s not just about us,
and I’ll always say that.”
If the Nets want to make their
championship dreams a reality with the trio of Durant, Irving, and Harden,
their commitment to playing consistent defense as well as being more balanced
and efficient at the offensive end has to be better.
The Nets had given up at least 120 points seven
times this season. Their 134 totals points in the paint allowed in the two
games at the Cavaliers most in any two-game span since at least the 1996-97
season. Their 16.9 second chance points allowed entering their tilt versus the
Heat ranked dead last in the league.
“We’ve got a lot of things to work on.
There’s a lot to clean up,” Coach Nash said on Friday night about the Nets road
ahead with the “Big Three.” “It’s very early. It’s relatively new. Having Ky
[Irving] back after two weeks. James joining the team. Kevin sitting out
tonight. It’s a lot thrown at us.”
“I don’t want to overreact but we are
going to urge the guys to clean up as much as we can the hustle. But just schematically,
just continue to refine and get better.”
Also, Harden playing a career-high 50:30
minutes; Durant playing 50:09 minutes, the most in a regular-season game since
2015; and Irving playing a career-high 48:22 minutes by seven seconds just will
not cut it. They need to have as much energy and focus as possible come playoff
time if they want to win it all this late spring.
“You know, we know what the outside world
expects of us. That’s going to happen,” Irving said postgame on Friday night. “Those
ups and downs are going to happen. One day were great, the next day were not.
That’s just luxury of being in a great business such as this, and I say that
very sarcastically.”
Harden added, “We’re very good at scoring,
you know. We’ve got to, you know, round up some stops. And once we get that
going, then we’ll be, you know, elite on both ends of the ball. Right now, our
problem is defense.”
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