Defense the way to Nets success
DENVER — It didn’t take long for the retooled Nets to figure out they can’t count on scoring their way to wins. Their path to victory is on the other end of the court.
After struggling in their first seven games since they traded former MVP Kevin Durant, the Nets have started to find their footing, winning four of five. But Sunday against the West-leading Nuggets (46-21) and Nikola Jokic, a two-time reigning MVP himself, could be the most telling test for that stillforming defense.
“It’s been interesting to see the metamorphosis of this group kind of thing,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “We at the beginning kind of thought ‘How are we going to score?’ We can’t play ‘iso’ ball like we did previously in the past. Are we going to be able to have multiple people handle the basketball and multiple double scorers?
“[We’d] been able to produce and score enough, and then we struggled on the defensive end. So then we had to challenge that group to shift the mentality of not thinking you have to score but to first of all lets be a defensive-oriented team. I think we’ve responded, started to form an identity with this group and hopefully they realize that.”
They’re starting to figure it out. The Nets are 4-1 in their last five games, with the lone loss this past Thursday at league-leading Milwaukee. They sat starters Spencer Dinwiddie, Nic Claxton and Cam Johnson, along with minutes leader Royce O’Neale that night, and their makeshift lineup still nearly defended its way to victory.
The Nets closed the deal a night later at Minnesota in a game — well, more like a second half — that was a blueprint for how they want to play.
“Defensively I think so for sure,” Dinwiddie said. “You look at our lineup. It’s 6-[foot]-6 to what is Clax, 6-11? Long, switchable, everybody can guard on the perimeter. Then bringing in a guy like Royce, who is obviously a great defender off the bench. Defensively, I’d say we know this is our identity.”
The Nets lead the league in defensive rating over that five-game span at 101.9, with the next closest team at 107.7. They’re second-best on net rating despite an offense that ranks just 26th.
Claxton and Mikal Bridges are elite defenders, O’Neale and Dorian FinneySmith are solid and even Dinwiddie is averaging a career-high in steals. While Claxton’s rim protection and switching ability are key, Bridges, the runner-up for the 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year, is the kind of two-way stud teams can’t win a title without.
“If you want to win in the league now, you’ve got to have more two-way guys. That’s what’s winning more often than not in the league,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “It’s hard now with all the manipulated pick-and-rolls and everything. It’s tough to put poor defenders on the floor and not pay for it.
“Everybody wants twoway players. That’s what everyone’s trying to get; but now it’s imperative. If you look at most of the top teams — all the top teams — have a lot of two way guys.”
After the Nets struggled for years to force turnovers, their long-armed defense has suddenly gotten disruptive at the same time it had become multiple. After switching one-through-five incessantly, now they also go one-through-four, mix in old-school drop coverage and even toss in 2-3 and 3-2 zones — anything to confuse an offense or throw them off their rhythm.
Rudy Gobert had his way with Claxton in the first half Friday. In the second half, Vaughn used smaller defenders, such as FinneySmith, O’Neale and even Dinwiddie, daring Finch to bog the offense down by posting Gobert every play. The gambit worked.
“We went to switching one-through-five and relied on our guards to hold up Rudy a bit,” said Dinwiddie, who clinched the win with a last-second block in OT.
“It typifies what we did in the second half. We were impressive on the defensive end and that really gave us a chance to win tonight.”
Next up will be Jokic, his 284-pound frame and double-digit assists a different set of challenges for the Nets’ newfound defense.