Here are five thoughts from the Nets’ 115-86 loss to the Pacers at Barclays Center on Monday night.
Ugly first half spelled disaster…
The Nets were atrocious in the first half on both sides of the floor. They went into halftime trailing 59-35. They gave up 41 points to the Pacers in the second quarter alone.
The Pacers shot the ball well from three in the first half going 9-19 for 47%. Many of those threes were wide open.
Offensively, nobody stepped up to help Spencer Dinwiddie who had 12 points at the half and finished the game with 28 points.
The Nets were 8-23 from the field in the second quarter and that poor shooting carried over into their effort on the defensive end, which was non existent.
Giving up big scoring quarters to their opponents seems to be a habit this team is developing.
That second quarter as a whole was awful. But of equal note, is the Nets’ inability to consistently get a stop when they need one.
The Nets made a run in the third quarter and cut the lead to 13.
However, after a Pacers timeout they couldn’t string together two stops. The lead pushed back to 18 and the game was never in doubt.
Short handed
No Kyrie Irving. No Caris LeVert. It’s understandable that they would be lacking in firepower.
Injuries are part of sports, so the Nets and their coaching staff won’t make any excuses. The Pacers were without Malcolm Brogodon and Jeremy Lamb too.
Before the game, Pacers head coach Nate McMillan briefly lamented the rash of injuries befalling the league and mostly top players.
The fact that it seems to be top players getting hurt is probably coincidence. But the amount of injuries in general do seem to be more frequent than in the past.
The talk of “load management” has dominated the conversation in the early going, but for all the wrong reasons.
Making sure players receive proper treatment and recovery is paramount for a team to achieve optimal success.
Concern Meter
On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being panic, I’d say it’s a 3 right now in Brooklyn.
This is their 13th game and they are 5-8 after Monday’s loss. Yes, they started last season 8-18. But that was a different team.
The foundation of this team isn’t very good right now and that has to do with continuity. A theme head coach Kenny Atkinson and the players have all talked about.
Key players out with injury isn’t going to do anything to help that continuity. But if you’re looking for a “silver lining,” it is giving playing time and development opportunities to the back end of the roster.
Players like Theo Pinson, rookie Nicolas Claxton, and Dzanan Musa are getting valuable playing time and an accelerated learning curve.
Following the game Atkinson talked about the team’s performance and his concern with the habits they are building.
Sabonis and The Holiday’s
See what I did there…
Domantas Sabonis, Aaron and Justin Holiday really stood out for the Pacers. The side pick and roll with the ball handler, and the pass out of the post to open shooters was working nicely on Monday night.
Aaron Holiday had a career high 24 points and 13 assists. He got anywhere he wanted on the floor Monday night.
Between Sabonis and the Holiday brothers, the Pacers had 60 points, 28 rebounds, 18 assists and they were a combined +47.
After the game Sabonis (16 points and 18 rebounds) talked about the importance of the pick and roll in the Pacers offense and his effectiveness.
Pacers beat the Nets 115-86. @Dsabonis11 was a big reason why. He finished with 18 and 16. Talked about his play and the pick and roll effectiveness of Indiana. #NBA #NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/CoPCuwVsL9
— Jarod Hector (@jshector) November 19, 2019
NBA and ratings…
The Nets were the second game of the TNT national broadcast last Thursday against the Denver Nuggets. The game drew a .49 rating and 766,000 viewers.
That’s not good, and this isn’t a Nets and Nuggets problem. Ratings are down across the board. The two LA teams are drawing well, but that’s it.
There are a myriad of reasons why ratings are down. Injuries, illegal streaming, and a regular season that lacks stakes.
Part of the reason for the low viewership of that particular game was the late game (tip was 10:30 pm EST). A majority of televisions reside in the eastern time zone. However, drawing under one million viewers for a national game is a problem.
The game had star power. Kyrie Irving was still playing for the Nets, and the Nuggets were the #2 seed in the west last year. Their roster includes first team All-NBA center Nikola Jokic, not to mention exciting young players like Jamal Murray, Garry Harris Jr., and Michael Porter Jr.
I bring up the ratings because the Barclays Center wasn’t full on Monday. The lower bowl had hundreds of empty seats. The upper bowl as well.
I think the NBA is the best league and has the best product of the four major sports. But attendance and ratings numbers don’t agree.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver is a forward thinking man, and is not afraid to make changes for the betterment of the league. This is a topic of discussion within the league office.
Something to keep an eye on…
The Nets will practice on Tuesday, and face the Hornets at Barclays Center on Wednesday.
