Here are five thoughts from the Nets win over the Celtics, in the second game of a home and home, on Friday afternoon at the Barclays Center.
Spencer Dinwiddie
Starting because of the absence of Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert, Dinwiddie was masterful.
He finished with 32 points, 11 assists, and 5 rebounds. Dinwiddie was 10-19 from the field, including 6-8 from three.
In the first half Dinwiddie was more of the facilitator. He recorded 8 of his 11 in the opening half. He scored 13 points and kept everyone on the Nets involved in the flow of the offense.
The ball was zipping around the perimeter and the team turned down good shots for great ones, per head coach Kenny Atkinson’s mantra.
In the second half Boston closed out a bit tighter and stayed home on shooters, forcing Dinwiddie to create some offense on his own.
The Nets still had good ball movement, but he needed to cook in order for the team to win. He was a master chef on Friday.
Three Point Shooting
The Nets want to fill it up from deep or get to the rim. That is their offensive philosophy. They are top 10 in the league in three point makes and attempts.
On Friday they shot a blistering 41.5% on 17-41. We mentioned Dinwiddie’s exploits.
Taurean Prince was 4-10 and Garrett Temple was 3-6.
More importantly a lot of the looks from deep were open. When the Nets are moving and the ball is moving they are a scary good offensive team.
Inconsistent officiating
The officials had a rough game.
There were a number of inconsistent calls when it came to screen setting and what you were allowed to do defensively, when fighting through screens.
It seemed as though certain screen setters were allowed to be physical while others weren’t. Same held true for fighting over screens. Certain players were given more leeway to dislodge the screener.
Early in the third quarter, Atkinson challenged a foul call on Jarrett Allen that would’ve been his fourth and sent him to the bench.
It was clear that the Celtics Jaylen Brown used his off hand to pull Allen’s hand down.
The challenge was successful but should’ve been an offensive foul on Brown.
There were moments where Atkinson, Dinwiddie, and Temple really let the refs hear about it.
Even Kevin Durant, during one particular timeout, talked to referee Tom Washington about the foul calls on the screens. KD seemed to be explaining to Washington about the timing of the dribble by the ball handler when the screen is set.
Despite the inconsistency the Nets fought through it as a team. The calls did not negatively impact their defensive focus.
Defense
This was Brooklyn’s best defensive game of the season. For a full 48 minutes the team was locked in and executed the game plan.
The Celtics shot 44% overall and only 32% from three.
A lot of that was due to the Nets subtle adjustment on the pick and roll. They attacked much higher on Kemba forcing him into tough contested threes or having to abandon the three all together and give up the ball.
The Nets were also fairly good in the paint. They had 36 defensive rebounds and limited the Celtics second chance opportunities.
For a team to excel on defense it begins with a “want to” attitude.
Atkinson talked about the team’s defense postgame.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson on the Nets’ defense in their 112-107 win over the Celtics. #NBA #NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/LCTpA3wmVX
— Jarod Hector (@jshector) November 29, 2019
“Kyrie’s Better”
So says the Brooklyn “Block” anyway.
This was the second game of a home and home series. Irving obviously missed the game in Boston and the fans at the TD Garden were loud and passionate in voicing their displeasure with Irving, despite the fact that he didn’t even make the trip.
This led the news cycle for two days even with the Thanksgiving holiday, plus Irving added fuel to the fire with an Instagram post about life being bigger than basketball and fans’ perspective.
For Friday night the Brooklyn faithful had his back.
Every time Kemba Walker (Kyrie’s “replacement) went to the free throw line he was greeted with chants of “Ky-rie’s Bet-ter.”
That may be up for debate. But on this night at least, the Nets were better.
The @BrooklynNets with the 112-107 win over the @celtics the “Block” has the “Kyrie’s better” chant going #NBA #NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/V6Otm0vPAz
— Jarod Hector (@jshector) November 29, 2019
Kyrie Irving Injury Update
Following the game Atkinson said that Irving has begun on court work and his shooting. He hasn’t started contact yet, but that is likely coming soon.
Irving will miss the Nets next game at home against the Miami Heat on Sunday, but there is optimism he could rejoin the team on the floor later this week or early next.
