Leading & off
Nets searching for identity despite top spot in East
The quarter-life crisis does not get as much attention as its older brother, but it would be understandable if the Nets were doing some existential pondering right about now.
Through 21 games — more than one-fourth of the season behind them — who are the 2021-22 Nets?
The 15-6 record reflects they are elite, and they will be atop the Eastern Conference when they host the Timberwolves on Friday. They are 7-4 at home, which is fine, and 8-2 on the road, which bodes well.
They are 8-6 against teams that are currently .500 or better, which is more concerning. In games against at least the early editions of the class of the NBA — the Suns, Warriors, Bucks, Bulls and Wizards — the Nets have won once in five tries and often have lost in lopsided fashion, which is most concerning.
Is this a title contender that can be penciled into the Eastern Conference finals on the backs of Kevin Durant and James Harden? Or is Harden declining and Durant being asked to do too much without the services of Kyrie Irving, the star the two stars thought they would be playing alongside?
“We have a unique challenge. We started the season one way — it changed,” coach Steve Nash said Thursday at practice, another day without the unvaccinated Irving. “We’ve had a bunch of injuries, guys in and out . ... So that makes the process slightly elongated.”
Nash repeatedly has said the team is searching for its identity — and before Game 22, he said the Nets were a quarter of the way to finding out who they are. As long as they enter the postseason with an idea of the style, the combinations and the personnel with which they play best, Nash would be happy. They won’t need to clearly see their reflection until April.
Thus far, they have bought in defensively. They’re a top-10 unit that entered play Thursday holding opponents to 42.9 percent shooting from the field, second-best in the NBA. Surprisingly they have been less effective offensively, with Harden struggling to adjust to the rule changes and still tinkering to find the right shoot-pass ratio.
Nash, who often references a “growth mindset,” said he wants the Nets to play quicker, space themselves out, get into the paint and dish back out to create twoon-ones. “That’s when we’re at our best. Blending these personalities, habits and histories to- gether so they understand the identity,” said Nash, whose Nets have looked most exposed against tal- ented teams that are more accustomed to playing together. “I think everyone understands what we’re trying to do. Now it’s a matter of forming new habits and forming collectively.”
They are trying to follow the leads of Durant and Harden, who himself is working out how the offense should work. His play has ticked up recently — including a 34-point (on 20 attempts), eight-assist night in the Nets’ 112-110 win over the Knicks on Tuesday. But Harden is shooting 6.2 free throws per game, his lowest average since the 2011-12 season. He shot 47.1 percent from the floor in 36 games with the Nets last season, a mark that is down to 41.6 percent this year. Onethird of the Big 3 is gone, and another third has not been himself.
Patty Mills, a newcomer, knows how to fit in, and his career-best 47.8 percent mark from deep has been crucial, especially in Joe Harris’ absence.
The sharpshooting Mills was on hand when Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker formed their own Big 3 in San Antonio, and though he said it’s “apples and oranges,” he has learned the talent needs more time to jell.
“[The Spurs’ trio] needed each other to be able to play that certain way,” Mills said. “So it came a lot easier to them, more naturally, and obviously being together for so long was another factor as well.”
After the .500 Timberwolves, the Nets will get another crack at Chicago, which handed them a 23-point loss last month. The Nets will be looking for signs of progress, and seeing teams again will provide more evidence for how the team is coming together.
There are all sorts of questions surrounding the Nets, which might obscure the fact that they are looking up to nobody.
“Somehow we’re atop the East amidst all that, but that’s not my concern,” Nash said. “My concern is: Are we getting better?”