NASH: WE’ll PLAY TO WIN
Even if it means less Kyrie time
Should the Nets lose games on purpose? Steve Nash says no, but there is a case to be made for forfeiting home-court advantage. Kyrie Irving is that case: If the Nets’ playoff livelihood is on the line, their best bet at winning a championship is with him on the floor. And since Irving is unvaccinated in one of the few NBA cities with a vaccine mandate, it might behoove the Nets to throw home-court advantage in favor of an on-court advantage.
“I don’t think that we can ever take that type of approach,” Nash said ahead of his team’s Christmas Night matchup against the Lakers. Nash said throwing games to have Irving on the floor goes against the team’s process-driven mandate to improve throughout the season. “We want to win games, and finishing first in the East would be a great bonus for all that effort, but that’s secondary for us continuing to try and get better. So home-away, I think it’s kind of putting the cart before the horse.”
There’s no cart, and there’s no horse, however, if the road doesn’t lead to an NBA championship. And despite the Nets’ standing as top dog in the Eastern Conference, they are not on the same level as other teams that consider themselves championship contenders.
The Nets’ record speaks for itself: The Nets came out of Christmas with a conference-best 22-9 record, yet they are 0-6 against the NBA’s legitimate championship contenders with losses to the Bucks, Heat, Suns, Warriors and two losses to the Bulls. They beat the Lakers on Christmas, but right now L.A. is only 16-18 and seventh in the Western Conference.
The Nets have that record against the elite, of course, because they have not been whole the entire season.
Kevin Durant has been sensational and deserving of significant consideration for league Most Valuable Player, but James Harden has not looked like the Houston Harden who won MVP in 2018. In fact, the Nets have won more games thanks to their new-and-improved defense than they have because of offensive firepower.
That offensive firepower has been lacking, in large part, because so has Irving. But Irving is set to rejoin the team now that the Nets front office has backtracked on its offseason decree that the unvaccinated AllStar guard could not appear solely in road games this season.
“Several months ago, we made a decision that was based around what was best for the team,” said Nets general manager Sean Marks after announcing Irving’s eligibility this season. “What was best for the team at that point was continuity, and I think we all see that continuity right now, over the course of the last week (during the Omicron outbreak), and whatever the future looks like may be out of the window for awhile, and we’ve gotta navigate that as best we can, and that’s something we’ve always strived to do, is make the best decision for what’s best for the team.”
In this case, what’s best for the team is winning a championship, and having Irving on the floor more playoff games than not may pay dividends when it’s winning time.
RE-CALIBRATION
James Harden has made a significant adjustment to playing without Irving this season, and Nash says re-integrating the All-Star guard to the rotation will alleviate Harden of the heavy burden of orchestrating the offense and scoring in bunches.
“Another player out there to draw attention, to create space, to take pressure off him. Another ball-handler, another penetrator,” Nash said. “A lot is thrown on James’ shoulders because he is one of the few guys on our team that really penetrates and gets to the paint, so Kyrie can help not only create space, make plays, take the burden off James but also share in that responsibility.”