WON’T BE DENIED
Without Kyrie and KD, Nets still storm back to top Pacers:
NETS 124 PACERS 115
The Nets solved a problem to record their 14th win in 15 games: How do you slow down players like Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis?
On Wednesday night, the answer was James Harden, who put up 40 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds for his 11th triple double as a Net, now just one shy of Jason Kidd’s franchise record. His performance — without Kyrie Irving (groin), Kevin Durant (hamstring) and Blake Griffin (conditioning) — brought the Nets back from down 16 in the first quarter, but the team’s concerted effort in slowing down Sabonis is a win for a team that will have to stop players like him if they hope to realize their championship dreams.
That concerted effort began with a switching Nets defense that Sabonis exposed early into the game, scoring 14 points in the first quarter alone. His impact was largely responsible for Indiana’s early lead.
The Nets, however, held Sabonis to just four more points for the rest of the game, and although he finished with a triple-double -- 11 assists, 11 rebounds, plus another four steals -- a key adjustment helped create opportunities for Brooklyn.
That adjustment, said Nets head coach Steve Nash, targeted Sabonis — a bruising big man with a soft touch down low, who also has a soft touch from the three-point line in pick-and-roll scenarios. The Nets started out in a drop coverage, but Sabonis is a capable three-point shooter and the space also opened passing lanes. They then reverted to switching one through five on pick and rolls, and when Sabonis tried to take advantage of the switch on the low block, the guard fronted the pass while the big man darted to the paint for inside position.
The objective was to create the smallest possible window a guard could get a pass to Sabonis if he took the switch into the post: Sabonis, starting point guard Malcolm Brogdon and reserve point guard TJ McConnell each finished with four turnovers.
“We gave them a few of those today but we didn’t panic,” Nash said of the Sabonis mismatches. “We stuck with it. Our activity was outstanding, we kept the ball in front for the most part. So I thought they did a good job of handling (him).”
Teams with a player of Sabonis’ ilk are lucky. NBA players can be big and athletic, but rarely are they also skilled playmakers, three-point shooters and bruisers at the same time.
“He’s such a versatile player. He makes his teammates better and he can score inside or out,” Nash continued. “But I think we also made it difficult for them, and it wasn’t necessarily something they were comfortable with.”
Sabonis, however, is only the tip of the iceberg of similar roadblocks the Nets will have on their way to realizing championship dreams.
For the Sixers, it’s Joel Embiid. For the Bucks, it’s a two-piece combo: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez. For Miami, it’s Bam Adebayo. And for the Lakers, it’s Anthony Davis, and possibly LeBron James as a small-ball five.
If the Nets have their eyes on “the top of things,” Sabonis’ impact as a skilled bruiser is an embodiment of their toughest defensive challenge.
It also could be an embodiment of Blake Griffin’s role.
Griffin is known for his high-flying dunks, but both age and a series of knee surgeries have slowed him down. He’s also known to be a playmaker, post scorer and playmaker, but while those are All-Star qualities, they would also leave him the fourth-best offensive option in the playoffs, when the Nets will have their five best players on the floor most of the minutes.
Griffin, however, has the size, strength, agility and IQ to give the Nets their best chance at stopping players like Sabonis. Harden is an above-average post defender but Griffin fits the profile of a player who can have success defending skilled bigs.
“Blake would have definitely had his cracks at him tonight as well,” Nash said.
Whether they can defend that kind of player may not matter, as was evident after they completed a 16-point comeback. Harden is now 2-0 as an underdog this season in games without both Irving (groin soreness) and Durant: He orchestrated a 24-point comeback against the Suns in Phoenix, and he turned in 40 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds and two steals to turn a 16-point deficit into a nine-point victory. He punctuated that comeback with a dribble-cross breakdown of Brogdon that extended Brooklyn’s lead to seven with 36 seconds to go -- and left Durant shaking his head in disbelief.
“We just started to be more physical. I think he still had a triple-double so he did an unbelievable job of passing the ball and making plays for his team but I think we were just active,” Harden said of stopping Sabonis.
The Nets were able to get stops on Sabonis down the stretch, in one instance in the fourth quarter when Harden pulled the chair from under Sabonis, and Nicolas Claxton came over the top to block his attempt out of bounds. Claxton may also be an answer for players of Sabonis’ ilk, as he proved helpful and played down the stretch as Brooklyn ultimately pulled away with a 19-4 fourth quarter run.
“We were switching one through five, so I was able to come in support when some of the guys were guarding him and I think that really bothered him,” said Claxton.
The Nets proved that on most nights, a strong offense will compensate for a middling defense.
Luckily for Brooklyn, and unluckily for the rest of the league, the Nets are only “a couple of weeks” before Griffin and Durant are expected to be cleared to play.
Also luckily for Brooklyn, they have Harden to captain the ship until then.