Nets’ Harris should take page from Connaughton’s book STILL GOT A SHOT
Suns know they gotta bring it tonight
The Nets needed just one. If just one more of Joe Harris’ shots fell in the final five games of their second-round series against the Bucks, it could have been the Nets with a 3-2 series lead over the Suns in the NBA Finals right now.
But Harris shot 1-of-7 from deep in Game 3, a three-point loss in Milwaukee that could have helped give the Nets a commanding 3-0 series lead. He shot 2-of-6 the next game, 1-of-7 in the fifth game, 1-of-4 in Game 6 and 3-of-9 in the pivotal Game 7, which the Nets lost in overtime to punch their ticket to Cancun for the summer.
Harris’ development into a more complete basketball player has been well documented and was rewarded with a four-year, $75 million contract. It’s clear, however, there is still work to be done, as he conceded in his exit interview.
“Obviously I’m disappointed. I wish that I’d played better,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of things where you can go back, be a tough critic on yourself, be judgmental, but at the same time, I mean, you’ve got to bring more to the table than just one thing.”
That one thing — his three-point shooting on league-leading regular-season efficiency — failed him under pressure.
Harris shot 50.4% from three in the first round against the Celtics, but shot just 31.2% from deep against the Bucks. Harris shot 8-of16 from deep at home in the first two games of the second round, then shot 8-of-33 in Games 3 through 7, a poor 24.24% from downtown.
Meanwhile, the Bucks’ resident sharpshooter Pat Connaughton has continued to earn his playing time on a championship contender by bringing more than just his sharpshooting.
Sure, Connaughton also shot poorly in the second round, converting on just 19% of his three-point shots. But he shot 8-of-18 in the final four games of the series, then found other ways to impact the series.
Harris could learn a thing or two from his Milwaukee counterpart.
Connaughton is athletic and uses his gifts as a strong rebounder. (Harris, for the record, out-rebounded Connaughton, 27-25, but played nearly twice as many minutes.)
Connaughton has also proven to be a defender capable of guarding multiple positions from one through four and has played critical minutes to help the Bucks, who are on the verge of winning their first championship in 50 years. As much as Harris has developed his offensive game, becoming a stronger defender remains atop his to-do list.
The Bucks regularly sought Harris on defense and took advantage of those matchups. The Bucks shot a team-high 54.4% against Harris, according to the NBA’s stats page — they also shot 50% against Kyrie Irving, 48.6% against Landry Shamet, 44.7% against James Harden, 44% against Kevin Durant and just 33% against Bruce Brown.
The Bucks also targeted Harris 11.3 times per game — they targeted Harden an average of 12.7 times in Games 5 through 7, and Harden played with a bum hamstring.
“I wish I would have shot more efficiently, help alleviate some of the pressure that other guys were facing, but this is sort of the situation that we’re in, and you know, frankly, had I played better, we might be in a little bit of a different spot,” he said. “So it’s definitely gonna be a motivating factor for me in this offseason going forward, just because you know, like a lot of us were just talking about in the locker room, this thing is far from over for us.”
Harris’ struggles alone are not to blame for the Nets’ early exit. It’s almost a miracle they made it to Game 7 after Irving’s severe Game 4 ankle sprain forced Harden onto the floor the first day he practiced after his hamstring injury. Had Durant’s toe been just behind the three-point line on his incredible game-winning, wait, game-tying shot, the Nets would have advanced to the Hawks series with a healthier Harden, a healthier Irving and Spencer Dinwiddie, who was cleared to return to basketball activities on June 22, as the Daily News reported he would.
Instead, the Nets are on the outside looking in. Durant is focused on Team USA’s shortcomings but is undoubtedly taking note of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s path to a championship. Harden and Irving are watching Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday play their roles to a tee.
And Harris, well, Harris should be watching Connaughton, and the league’s other sharpshooters who find ways to contribute when the shooting gets dull. Connaughton’s playstyle fits with the Bucks, just like it would fit with the Nets, because not only is he a 37% three-point shooter but he does the dirty work on both ends of the floor and both defends and rebounds at a high level in limited minutes.
The Nets can win with Harris shooting threes, but if the threes falter again, he would do himself a service by adding a dimension or two to his game.
“Yes. Am I disappointed? For sure. But I cannot be more disappointed in Joe than he already is in himself. I know that,” Nets GM Sean Marks said in his end-of-the-season press conference. “He’s taking this tough and difficult and hard, and I know he’ll be back to being Joe and shooting lights-out like he always has for us, and in terms of his future on the team, there’s really no comment on that. Joe is a Brooklyn Net until otherwise, whether that’s his decision or mine.
“We won’t focus on that, but we 100% support Joe and will be here for him, and I expect Joe to bounce back and be the elite three-point Amagnified shooter that he’s shown for a long time.” ll is forgotten when shots fall, but all is
when they don’t. One poor playoff performance on a championship team is excusable and correctable, especially for a player like Harris, who is the longest tenured Net (alongside Dinwiddie) and partially responsible for helping build the culture that attracted the stars to Brooklyn.
Two poor playoff performances? That could get you shipped to the highest bidder.
MILWAUKEE — The Suns say they aren’t feeling sorry for themselves after squandering a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals and moving within one game of elimination.
They realize they’re still two wins away from capturing the first league title in franchise history.
Phoenix coach Monty Williams said Monday the Suns are showing the same spirit that helped them get this far in their first playoff appearance since 2010. The Suns have lost three straight to the Bucks, who can close out the Finals on their home floor tonight.
“I saw yesterday when we got on the plane, the guys had the same look in their eyes,” Williams said. “When I came down this morning for meetings, guys were down there talking, having breakfast. It was pretty cool to watch. So those kinds of losses are hard, but if you’re going to do anything big, you have to overcome those kinds of hards.
“I don’t know of any team that has won a championship that has just kind of strolled into it. So our guys, we have talked about that, the deep playoff hurts that happen and the ability to bounce back from that.”
A big difference between Phoenix and Milwaukee is that the Bucks have
experienced plenty of recent playoff heartbreak.
Milwaukee was the league’s top overall seed in 2019 and 2020 but failed to reach the Finals either year. While Chris Paul and Jae Crowder possess plenty of playoff experience, teammates including Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges made their postseason debuts this year.
“The message is stay together, fight each and every possession and embrace where you are right now,” Crowder said.
The Suns face the unenviable task of having to win at Milwaukee, where the Bucks own a 9-1 postseason record. The Suns posted an NBA-best 24-12 road record in the regular season — including a win at Milwaukee — and are 6-4 away from home in these playoffs.
That gives the Suns confidence they can bounce back, even from a loss as painful as the 123-119 Game 5 defeat.
“Coming into the next morning probably after a loss, the locker room, you probably wouldn’t know that we just lost a game, a Game 5 at home,” Ayton said. “You know, just how we walk in and everybody’s just so full of spirit and energy, it’s insane.”
Booker is competing with Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton for an NBA title, but they’ll become teammates as soon as the Finals end when they head to Tokyo to join Team USA for the Olympics.
“I think we’ll be fine,” Middleton said. “Right now, we haven’t said a word to each other. I’m sure we won’t be best buddies during Team USA, but we’ll be teammates, for sure. We’ll be on the same path, talking basketball X’s and O’s, trying to get the job done. That’s what being competitors is all about, but also what being a teammate is all about.”
Booker agreed.
“It’s never personal between who you’re going with, unless lines are crossed,” Booker said. “Those guys aren’t that type and I would never go that way with them, because there’s a high respect level for each other. I think that’s why we’re in the position that we’re in right now.”