NETS HAVE A THREE PARTY!
Bury Hornets, shoot 21 of 41 from deep
If it’s not James Harden, it’s Kyrie Irving. If it’s not Irving, it’s Kevin Durant. If it’s not Durant, Irving, or Harden, it’s Joe Harris or Landry Shamet. And if it’s not one of those two sharpshooters, then, and only then, are the Nets in trouble.
Harden (hamstring) did not play against the Hornets on Wednesday, and Irving had a somewhat forgettable performance by his own standards. But the Nets’ depth, even after LaMarcus Aldridge’s sudden and unexpected retirement from a heart complication, compensated where their starpower fell short.
The Nets defeated Charlotte at home, 130115, by flexing their muscle as a collective rather than the individual superpowers of its three, wait two, err, one-and-a-half stars.
“I thought the second unit was outstanding just matching their intensity, and they did it in the second half, too,”
Steve Nash said. “I thought that was also a place where we got a handle on them for a period when the second unit was in there. So they just played really hard, they played together, they were active in both their stints.”
Irving didn’t hit double figures until the fourth quarter, but by then, the damage had already been done. Harris was unconscious from three and hit six of his nine attempts from downtown. His night included a barrage of step-back, side-step and escape-dribble threes he wouldn’t have dared to attempt three years ago.
Shamet also hit six threes off the bench, with the Barclays Center crowd clamoring for him to let it fly every time he touched the ball with space in front of him. By the time Harris and Shamet tallied 12 combined threes, the Hornets had still only made 10 on the night as a team.
For a Nets team that lives and dies by the three, a 21-of-41 shooting night was as good as they can ask for. It was also by design.
The Hornets are a top-15 ranked defense, but their Achilles heel is the three-point line. The Nets combated Charlotte’s physical defense with ball movement to the tune of 35 assists on the night, two shy of their season-high of 37.
“I think Charlotte is so athletic, sometimes they put two on the ball. They focus on the ball a lot, and if you don’t move the basketball against them, your offense can get stagnant,” Durant said. “I think we made an extra pass every time down. So when teams start to play us that way where they’re trapping pick and rolls, rotating, early rotating, we make a couple passes, we can put them in a vulnerable position. Tonight was a good test for us.”
The Nets got off to a slow start, and the Hornets took an early 14-point lead. Charlotte’s Miles Bridges took advantage of the Nets’ interior and scored 33 points on a variety of high-flying dunks and open threes, which he made six of, as well.
The Hornets, however, did not have their star. LaMelo Ball will miss the rest of the season with a fractured wrist. Meanwhile, Durant dribbled up-court and shot over defenders as if they never existed. The All-Star captain put up 25 points and 11 assists, making eight of his 12 attempts on the night.
The Nets are entering the home stretch of the season with just 16 games left on the schedule, but 10 of them will be on the road. Their next game is important: It’s a South Beach showdown with the defending East champion Miami Heat. The Heat acquired Victor Oladipo at the trade deadline and are now positioned to challenge, once again, for the Eastern Conference crown.
The Nets still aren’t expected to welcome Harden back for another few days, but if their shooters are shooting like they did against the Hornets, they stand a chance any night of the week.