The Brooklyn Nets have lost one basketball game in the last 37 days.
Over that stretch, Brooklyn is 14-1, and with Wednesday night’s win in Indiana, the Nets improved to 28-13 and moved into a first-place tie with the Philadelphia 76ers. They’ve won their last six games and have won a franchise-record eight straight on the road going into Friday night’s game at Orlando.
Through the last 15 games, James Harden is averaging a triple-double with 27.3 points, 11.2 assists, and 10.0 rebounds per game, and Kyrie Irving is averaging 27.8 points while shooting 51.4 percent. Joe Harris is shooting 51.0 percent from 3-point range and 54.5 percent overall. Those numbers, like most of the team-wide statistics the Nets have put up, are in line with their offensive rates for the full season.
This 15-game run began with a win over Indiana as well, back on Feb. 10 at Barclays Center. Coming off a disappointing effort the night before in Detroit, the Nets locked down the Pacers with a physical defensive effort, and that has carried over during the last month. Brooklyn has posted a defensive efficiency of 111.0 points allowed per 100 possessions, ranked 13th in the league over the last 15 games. For the full season, Brooklyn’s defensive rating is 113.2, and in the first 26 games through Feb. 9, it was 114.2.
Through it all, Nets head coach Steve Nash is on guard against his team getting too comfortable.
“We definitely nitpick,” said Nash. “We definitely want our guys to not get complacent, to not be bored of winning, you know? We reminded them today that we haven’t played our best the last couple of games and were able to win, so let’s not think that’s just the way this goes. We need to continue to get clean with our defensive assignments, connectivity, all the little details, go through it with them, and we want to get back to a level pre-All Star break there. You know, we’re still regaining our sharpness and confidence after the break and the last thing we want is for this team to feel any sort of arrival or complacency. We’d like to try to win every single game but more important than that, is the way we approach the games. Are we locked in? Are we competitive? Are we fighting? Are we not taking anything for granted?
“So, you know, we give them as much space as we can because this is a tough schedule and grind, but at the same time, we do have to nitpick just to make sure we’re getting the best out of them. That’s for them. We want to see them succeed and perform and do it collectively and individually and that takes perseverance, so we try to walk that line and that balance of allowing them to have enough space and time to decompress and away from everything being basketball and at the same time, make sure they’re aware where we’re going, where we’re lacking, where our deficiencies are, where we can improve and all those different parameters that go into being a better basketball team by the end of the year.”
NEXT MAN UP
With Kyrie Irving out on Wednesday, the Nets rolled out their league-high 21st starting lineup of the season. Landry Shamet became the 14th different player to start a game for the Nets this year.
While James Harden led the way with 40 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds, the Nets had seven players score in double figures. Joe Harris had 19, Tyler Johnson and Jeff Green each scored 15, Nic Claxton and Bruce Brown had 11 each, and DeAndre Jordan scored 11. After a slow start, the Nets shot 53.1 percent over the final three quarters.
“Obviously we don't want to get used to having KD and Kyrie out of the lineup but if we do then guys have to be ready to step up,” said Harden. “I think Tyler did a really good job throughout the course of the game. Once again, we preach every night is going to be somebody different. And so be ready and be prepared for the opportunity. Take advantage of it.”
CLAXTON & HARDEN
Nic Claxton had a big night on Wednesday, going the full fourth quarter alongside James Harden as the Nets closed out their comeback against the Pacers. The springy, 6-foot-11 forward is a perfect target for lobs and pick-and-roll actions with Harden, and he’s feasting off feeds from the league’s leading assist man while putting up a 65.8 field goal percentage.
“I’ve definitely never played with anybody like him,” said Claxton. “He’s definitely one of one and he just makes the game super easy, just playing off of him, and him getting to his spot so he can finish whenever he wants. He can pretty much do whatever he wants out there and he’s an extremely, extremely smart basketball player. His IQ is just off the charts. So it’s fun to learn. He teaches me a lot of stuff – just where to be offensively and defensively so now I’m soaking in all the knowledge that I can.”
https://www.nba.com/nets/news/sidebar/2021/03/17/nets-notes-nic-claxton-gets-taste-of-closing-time
ABOUT THE MAGIC
The Magic are 13-26 and have lost their last eight games. The Nets won the season’s two previous matchups — 122-115 on Jan. 16 and 129-92 on Feb. 25. Orlando ranks last in field goal percentage (43.0) and 29th in offensive rating (104.9). The Magic are third in rebounds per game (46.6) but 17th in rebound percentage (49.7). All-Star center Nikola Vucevic leads Orlando with 25.0 points and 11.6 rebounds per game while shooting 49.0 percent overall and 41.6 percent from 3-point range on 6.5 3-point attempts per game.