During Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel’s pregame media availability, an interesting snippet was mentioned regarding the Brooklyn Nets’ offensive potency. Vogel was asked about the difficulty of guarding James Harden and Kyrie Irving without the presence of Kevin Durant, who was a scratch against the Lakers due to a hamstring strain.
“[The Nets’] offensive rating in games where Kyrie and Harden played and Durant did not is the same as their offensive rating for the year,” Vogel said. “They’re obviously different without KD, but every bit as potent.”
What Vogel mentioned about the Nets’ offensive rating without Durant is true – and much more.
Since the trade for Harden, in games where Durant has sat out due to injury or health and safety protocols related to COVID-19 and where both Harden and Irving played, the Nets are sporting an offensive rating of 123.6 points per 100 possessions, which would far and away be the league’s best offense.
It would also eclipse their current offensive rating of 117.9, already the best in the league and putting them on track to become the most efficient offense in NBA history.
Such is the luxury that the Nets exclusively possess, having 3 of the deadliest offensive players in NBA history on their roster. When one star has to sit out, the others will pick up the slack with little-to-no dropoff. It is the trademark of the only remaining superteam in the league in a largely post-superteam era.
The Nets flexed their superteam status against the Lakers during their dominant 109-98 win. It was a battle between two shorthanded teams, but the Lakers were clearly the more crippled of the two.
They were without their second superstar, Anthony Davis, due to an Achilles strain that will sideline him for an estimated 4 weeks. They were also without Dennis Schröder, who was a late scratch due to health and safety protocols.
Schröder provides plenty of value to the Lakers on both ends of the floor. He is a dependable tertiary scorer behind Davis and LeBron James, capable of taking his man off the dribble and occasionally burying perimeter shots. On the other end, he is an excellent point-of-attack defender, a trait that the Lakers needed against the Nets’ perimeter scorers.
Davis’ reputation as an elite defender needs no further clarification. Without him and Schroder, Harden and Irving found it easy to manipulate the depleted Lakers defense, one that, at full strength, is the league’s best, with a defensive rating of 105.5 points allowed per 100 possessions.
It was an uncharacteristically poor performance from the Lakers defense, but understandable on certain levels. The Nets offense with Harden and Irving is still dangerously capable, while the Lakers struggled to remain connected without two of their defensive anchors. It showed on several possessions.
The Lakers’ trademark combination of intensity and laser-sharp focus on defense just wasn’t there. Normally seamless switching was replaced with botched ones, scramble drills and cross-out concepts were poorly-executed and ignored, and prevalent ball-watching became a bad habit.
The Lakers paid extra attention to Harden and Irving, and were made to pay for it on several occasions by the Nets’ complementary players. Joe Harris finished with 21 points on 6-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. He has been the league’s most proficient catch-and-shoot player; he leads the league in both catch-and-shoot threes (87) and catch-and-shoot three-point percentage (52.1%).
Even a career 34.3% three-point shooter such as Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot found opportunities from the perimeter. All of his 15 points came on 5 three-point makes out of 8 attempts, most of which were looks created by Harden and Irving.
Harris and Luwawu-Cabarrot’s combined 11 threes made up the majority of the 18 the Nets unleashed upon an unsuspecting Lakers squad, one that had a significant size and height advantage against the small-ball starting lineup of the Nets, who opted to start Jeff Green at center and keep DeAndre Jordan in the second unit.
The Lakers’ depth – normally one of their most touted traits – was rendered ineffective by the Nets, who had a 35-31 advantage in terms of bench points.
“The second unit’s been producing, holding, or extending leads,” Nets head coach Steve Nash said after the game. “I’m proud of all of those guys for hanging in there and finding their rhythm and form and gaining a little connectivity out there.”
Harden and Irving finished with a combined 39 points, a relatively modest number but one that the Nets were content with, especially with the way the two stars opted to spread the wealth throughout the roster. Harden, in particular, was up to his typical playmaking ways, finishing with 11 assists and taking full control of the tempo and cadence of the Nets’ halfcourt possessions.
Harden as the sole star in the Nets’ second unit gives them a cushion no other team in the league has the privilege of possessing, allowing them to sit both Irving and Durant and letting the former MVP orchestrate the Nets’ spread pick-and-roll attack.
While the Nets excelling on offense is by no means a surprising development, it was their defense that ended up being a pleasant surprise against the Lakers.
Normally a below-average defense – they allow 114.2 points per 100 possessions, 25th in the league – they grabbed the Lakers offense and put it in an inescapable chokehold, holding them to 98 points – only the fourth time that the Lakers failed to reach 100 points this season – and limiting them to 104.3 points per 100 possessions.
LeBron James did finish with another statistical masterpiece – 32 points on 14-of-23 shooting, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists – but bereft of his fellow superstar and starting scoring guard, the rest of the Lakers not only struggled to find open looks, they also failed to convert on the ones they were given, as evidenced by their 8-of-30 clip (26.7%) on threes.
It was partly variance rearing its ugly head toward the Lakers, but the Nets defense must be given plenty of credit in improving their defensive intensity and focus against a James-led offense.
“[Improving our defense] is a non-negotiable if we want to reach our best level, so we have to buy in,” Nash said. “We have to understand what we’re trying to do, what our principles are, make clean reads and decisions, and play together.
“The guys have improved, turned a corner, however you want to put it, at the defensive end, where at least now we are cleaner with our decision-making and our connections with one another. They’re starting to have little stretches in the game where our defense is strong.”
While the Nets were happy to come out with a win against the defending champions – albeit a depleted version – they were wary of making any proclamations and definitive conclusions from a game that, in the long run, may not mean much in the grand scheme of things.
“We’ll see them down the line again, and we look forward to it with a whole entire healthy Lakers team,” Irving said. “That’s what we really wanted. I know everybody wants that, so I’m looking forward to the challenge and seeing them down the line.”
Durant returning in a future matchup with the Lakers, as well as against any other top team in the league, is still the ideal scenario. The Nets outscore opponents by 13.7 points per 100 possessions with Durant on the floor – a team-high, per Cleaning the Glass.
Most of it is obviously from the value he provides on offense, but his ability to be the team’s most versatile defender is also a significant reason behind the importance of him playing.
Which is all the more important that Durant maintains his health, to sit out games that don’t need to be played so that he will shine and dominate during the crucial stretches of the season.
In the meantime, Harden and Irving will hold the fort and continue to give defenses the same level of potency – if not more – that a fully healthy Big 3 has already unleashed upon the league. – Rappler.com
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