The Nets don’t have to be dominant on defense, they must, however, be timely.
It’s taken awhile, but Brooklyn’s defense is coming together. It’s been a key component in their winning streak, it’s crucial for their goal of winning a championship.
Yes, the offense is explosive. Yes, this team gets buckets; they light the scoreboard up every night. That’s half the battle. What about the defense?
Can this team’s defense get stops with the game in the balance?
Well, the Nets not only did that against the Sacramento Kings, they also avoided the dreaded pitfalls which come with a trap game.
Brooklyn returned home to Barclays Center and secured their seventh-straight win with a 127-118 win over the Kings. Their momentum continues to build after reeling off a 5-0 road trip.
There was plenty to take from this win.
The Nets were without Jeff Green and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, due to injuries. Kevin Durant is also still on the mend. With Green and TLC sidelined, Nic Claxton saw his first minutes of the season. Iman Shumpert also saw some time in the first half.
Kyrie Irving delivered with 21 points and seven assists. And James Harden delivered his sixth triple-double as a Net with 29 points, 14 assists, and 11 rebounds. Before the game, Harden was selected to the NBA All-Star team as a reserve for the Eastern Conference.
But it was Bruce Brown, surprisingly, bringing the offensive firepower to help take down the Kings. Brown posted a career-high 29 points, including a pair of huge 3-pointers down the stretch.
With the Kings hanging around in the second half, the Nets stepped up in the fourth quarter and clamped down.
Brooklyn allowed 38 and 30 points in the second and third quarter, respectively. In the fourth quarter, they held the Kings to just 22 points.
“Fourth-quarter defense,” said head coach Steve Nash. “We turned it up, held them to 22, I think we had a couple late buckets and put it to bed, so I was proud of that. I thought everyone contributed. And I thought this is a trap game. You have a winning streak on the West Coast, you fly back across the country, getting acclimated to family and friends, then time zone and all that stuff, and you play a team you beat a week ago. It’s a trap game. So, I was proud of the focus. It wasn’t always pretty, but they wanted to win, and they got the stops when they needed them.”
Ahhh yes, this was indeed a trap game. The Kings, at 12-19, are one of those below .500 teams the Nets should be running out the building. With Brooklyn currently riding high and feeling good, it would be easy to overlook the young Kings.
Not only didn’t they overlook Sacramento, their defense stepped up when needed – continuing to trend in the right direction.
“I think our defense is improved. We’ve been good in stretches,” Nash added. “We still need to be more consistent. I think tonight some of that was all the parameters of getting back from this trip, playing a very difficult offensive team, and playing a bunch of guys that hadn’t played for us this year. Lot of things thrown in there, but overall, we had our stretches defensively and in particularly when it counted. A long way to go there, but we are improving I think every week.”
The offense has three of the best players in the world, the role players are finding their groove for the team, along with its first-year head coach. Their team defense, during this seven-game win streak, has shown a pulse.
The Nets can score, their chemistry is growing, and in crunch time, they’re committing to getting stops on defense.
That’s the look of a championship team.
Image: (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
