Ten days ago, a brutal loss to the Detroit Pistons forced the Brooklyn Nets to refocus. Since then, the Nets have had a spate of wins, the latest a 109-98 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
Brooklyn has taken a step toward solving its defensive puzzle and is in the middle of a five-game win streak.
“Which [Detroit loss] was rock bottom for us, and it sparked some talks and kind of a re-imagining of what we’re trying to do, ”said Nets coach Steve Nash. I am proud of the way they have responded since then. things taken care of. “
The Nets’ 122-111 loss to Detroit on February 9 was ugly. But after letting the Pistons shoot 56% off the field in that game – the highest percentage of field goals they have allowed in a game this season – Brooklyn has tightened up defensively. The Nets’ five consecutive wins mark their longest winning streak of the season.
“It’s time we turned the corner defensively,” Irving said with a smile. “No team will win anything in this league if they don’t get stops. It’s about time. And we heard them loud and clear in the last few games.”
In the 13 games the Nets played from Jan. 16 to Feb. 9, the Nets contested 85.5% of the shots in the paint, according to Second Spectrum tracking. That was ranked 28th in the NBA. Against the Pistons on Feb. 9, Brooklyn contests only 78.6% of shots in the paint, their second-worst firing rate in any game since acquiring star guard James Harden in a mid-January trade.
But as of Feb. 10, the Nets are fighting 91.1% of shots in the paint – the sixth highest percentage in the NBA.
“I think after our game against Detroit it was clearly a game where we were struggling very badly at the defensive end and it was kind of, not a breaking point, but it just happened pretty repeatedly up to that point,” said Joe Harris. . “I think after that game only the level of focus, the attention to detail and the intensity at the defensive end has really increased.”
Brooklyn has kept its opponents under 100 points three times since the Harden transaction, and two of those cases have been in the past five games – including against the Lakers. On the other side of the ball, Brooklyn shot 18-of-39 from 3-point range on Thursday and now shoots 42% from outside the arc since Harden joined the team.
Irving finished with 16 points against the Lakers. Harris added 21 points and James Harden had 23 points and 11 assists.
“It’s scary out there as other teams try their best to stay in the game defensively and continue with more offensive executions,” said Irving.
He added, “We know this doesn’t happen often when you get together a great collection of guys who have been prominent guys in their roles on their respective teams and guys come from the bench who are starters for other teams.”