The Brooklyn Nets are going into the 2021 NBA Playoffs with a historically effective offense that broke NBA and franchise records while rarely being at full strength.
So with the Nets looking as healthy and whole as they have all season, with Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant all ready to go together — and with both Joe Harris and Blake Griffin as well for the first time — is there another level for this team to reach as they embark on a championship chase?
“I think so,” said Harris. “Obviously, we played extremely well offensively over the entire course of the regular season. But I think when we had everybody together, when we had James, Ky and Kevin on the floor, I think it was a total of eight games, so to have them for some of the biggest games of the season where guys sort of elevate their level anyway come playoffs time, I definitely think we all can elevate our game a little bit on that end, too.”
The second-seeded Nets are tipping off their playoff run with Game 1 of their first-round series against the seventh-seeded Boston Celtics on Saturday night at Barclays Center at 8:00 p.m.
Nash wryly noted on Friday that Harden, Irving, and Durant’s minutes on the floor through the eight games they played together — 202 in total — were fewer than the running time of the movie The Irishman.
As it is, the Nets set an NBA record for offensive rating with 117.3 points per 100 possessions, led the league in both field goal percentage (49.4) and effective field goal percentage (57.5) and were second in points per game (118.6) and 3-point percentage (39.2).
“I think we definitely have room for growth,” said Nash. “The playoffs obviously are going to make things even more difficult though. They’re gonna scout and you get in a series and they’re gonna try to take things away and they’re gonna scheme you. The game can also slow down. There’s more rest between games. It should be more difficult in the playoffs but can our offense improve under duress? Absolutely. That’s something we haven’t faced a lot of. For us to get into a playoff series where we’re having to play together at really high level. We’re having to think the game. We’re having to make reads at a higher level. That will be important for our growth as well.”
In the Celtics, the Nets have drawn a team with the NBA’s No. 13 defensive rating this year. That’s a bit of a departure for Boston under head coach Brad Stevens. Over the last three seasons, the Celtics have never ranked lower than sixth.
“It’s just been a crazy year,” said Nash. “They've had COVID situations, injuries, guys in and out of the lineup, it's probably hard to be consistent. That doesn't mean they're not a top-five or top-10 defense potentially it just means that over the course of this year it didn't end up like that. I think that's the biggest thing. This is a team that's played together for three or four years. They run their system, they're well-coached, they run their defensive schemes well and through that consistency I think you see their output. So we'll have to be sharp. We can't just roll out there and put points on the board we're going to have to be very sharp and play with great energy and connectivity.”
Boston was without one of its premier defenders for a significant stretch this season, with 6-foot-3, 220-pound swingman Marcus Smart missing 24 games.
“They have a lot of talent across the floor, across the board,” said Smart. “It’s going to take all five guys that’s on the court and whoever comes in, we all have to be locked together. We can’t get down on ourselves if we make a mistake; they hit a tough shot, we have to continue to play and move onto the next one.”
While the Nets boast three of the NBA’s most gifted scorers in Durant, Irving, and Harden, all of whom averaged at least 24.6 points per game this season, they are all willing and skilled playmakers. Harden has averaged 6.5 assists for his career, Irving 5.7, and Durant 4.2.
“I just let the game flow and teams, if I catch it in my scoring spot, I look to score first but if the team is going to come over there and send two guys before I make a move then I'll gladly pass the ball,” said Durant. “I just try to keep the game as simple as possible and not overthink it and try to let it flow. So I spend so much time on the court that I should be ready for any situation. I try to approach it that way.”
“I just play the game and whoever guards me, they got to guard me a certain way, and I figure it out, and I attack and I make my teammates better, and score when I need to and that's it,” said Harden. “It's pretty simple. I don't pay attention to who's guarding me or what, because at the end of day I'm going to get to where I want to get to.”
Brooklyn’s group numbers were buoyed by some superb individual accomplishments. Irving became the ninth player in NBA history to post 50/40/90 shooting percentage splits for field goals, 3-pointers, and free throws. Harris led the NBA in 3-point percentage for the second time in three seasons and shot a career-high 50.5 percent overall. Durant shot career highs of 53.7 percent overall and 45.0 percent from 3-point range, good for seventh in the league. Harden averaged 10.8 assists per game and matched Jason Kidd’s single season franchise record 12 triple-doubles in just 44 games.
“It’s a luxury to have for sure,” said Nash. “Having said that, we still haven’t faced a playoff series together. We haven’t actually played — we’ve barely played seven games together. It is tricky. While the potential’s there and while we will be able to let our talent take over at times you know when it comes to the playoffs it’s about execution, connectivity, that competitive spirit collectively. Those things are things we can control as we go forward and hopefully it will give us a little bit of time to work through the kinks because of that talent.
“By no means do I look at this and go, oh we’re so talented we’re just gonna roll out there and win games. In the playoffs, details matter. Connectivity, cohesion matters. Teams are gonna throw a lot of different stuff at us, try to slow us down, try to make it difficult, try to give us different reads and we’ve gotta be able to adapt and adjust and some of that is more difficult when it’s fresh, you haven’t seen it before, but these guys are capable, they’re experience, they’re skilled, and they have the will to want to do it. So right now it’s about us starting this journey, learning as we go, improving as we go, and putting ourselves in a position to win each night.”
ABOUT THE CELTICS
The Boston Celtics finished the regular season 36-36 and in seventh place in the Eastern Conference. They won their play-in game against eighth-place Washington, 118-100, to clinch the seventh seed. The Nets swept the season series from the Celtics; 123-95 on Christmas Day, 121-109 on March 11 and 109-104 on April 23. The Celtics were 10th in the NBA in offensive rating (114.), 10th in 3-point percentage (37.4), 19th in field goal percentage (46.6) and 25th in assists (23.5). Boston was 15th in rebounds per game, but with a big differential between the offensive and defensive boards. The Celtics were fourth in offensive rebounds per game (10.6) but 22nd in defensive rebounds per game (33.6), although they rated more positively in defensive rebounding percentage at No. 13 (73.7). Boston has lost No. 2 scorer Jaylen Brown for the season. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 26.4 points plus 7.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game this season and is coming off a 50-point game in Boston’s play-in game win over Washington.
“We’ll have to make shots and threats to make shots around him, and that’s been the case anyways,” said Boston coach Brad Stevens. “When Jaylen went down I talked to Jayson a little bit about it — there will be days where you have opportunities to do what he did the other night, where he went nuts and got to 50. There will be more days where you’re probably looking more — the ironic part of Jaylen being out is you think there would be more shots, but actually you get more attention, and you’ll have to make that easy right read more times than not. You’re probably looking more at a high assist stat line. So he’s just going to make the right read. I think Jayson’s done a great job of that, and you even go back to when it really started last year, and he saw a lot of double teams in January and February for the first time. He’s gets off that thing and makes the right read. Nobody is perfect, but for all that he’s seen already and how well he handles it, it’s pretty impressive.”