The Brooklyn Nets dropped Game 3 of their NBA Playoffs first round series to the defending champion Toronto Raptors on Friday, 117-92, falling behind 3-0 in the series.
“That’s the great challenge, and I hope our group accepts that challenge,” said head coach Jacque Vaughn of dealing with that deficit going into Sunday’s Game 4. “This is an unprecedented time. I didn’t think I would be talking to you through a video cam with a mask on. I hope our group embraces the now, the moment that they’re in. We don’t know what this thing is going to look like a month, a year, two years from now. So, you have moments in your life that you can hold onto. We can embrace this time, and you never know what happens if you win one game.”
With Joe Harris having left the NBA Campus after Game 2 on Wednesday, Tyler Johnson got the start and led Brooklyn with 23 points, shooting 8-of-15 and 5-of-9 from 3-point range.
“He played great. He played inspired basketball,” said Caris LeVert. “He knew we needed that from him. He gave us everything that we needed and more. So that was huge for us. We wish we could have, myself could have gave him more help, but he played a heck of a game out there for sure.”
But overall, the Nets shot just 33.0 percent and 31.4 percent from 3-point range while attempting 51 3-pointers. Brooklyn missed not just Harris’ production, but his presence after he’d shot 59.8 percent overall and 55.1 percent from 3-point range while averaging 19.1 points in eight games in Orlando. With the Raptors packing the paint, center Jarrett Allen did not attempt a field goal and Brooklyn had little success getting to the rim.
“They switched every pick and roll,” said LeVert. “I think that’s something that they did late in the game in Game 2 and carried it into Game 3, so just made it tough for Jarrett’s usual shot attempts, which are lobs on the pick and roll or drop-offs on the pick and roll and things like that. But we’ve still got to find a way to get him the ball, get him in the game offensively. That’s on myself, that’s on (Chris Chiozza), the guards especially. But they did a good job of taking him out of the game, dictating the game.”
Allen did grab 17 rebounds, his sixth straight double-figure rebound game. LeVert had 15 points and six assists, Chiozza had 14 points and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scored 10.
The Raptors shot 50.0 percent for the game and 47.4 percent from 3-point range.
The Nets trailed by 15 at halftime. Toronto jumped out to a quick start and a 16-5 lead, taking a 24-17 advantage into the second quarter.
After Rodions Kurucs opened the second quarter with a score for Brooklyn, the Raptors reeled off an 11-0 run to go up 35-19. LeVert’s 3-pointer in the final seconds of the half brought the Nets within 12 before Fred VanVleet beat the buzzer with a three-quarter court heave for a 57-42 Toronto lead at the break.
The Nets opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers from Garrett Temple and Johnson, with Johnson going on to score 15 third-quarter points, including 10 straight Nets points. Another Johnson 3-pointer again had Brooklyn within nine points at 64-55, but the Raptors scored eight straight to go up 72-55 with 6:37 to go in the quarter. Toronto took an 84-68 lead into the fourth quarter.
“We’ve been shorthanded since we’ve been in the bubble and I'm pretty sure we shocked some people by winning five games going down the stretch,” said Johnson. “The narrative really hasn’t changed throughout the entirety of the playoffs. As far as being a Brooklyn Net and having that grit, it’s like we’re all so fortunate to be playing basketball in the first place. You’ve seen how easily it can be taken away from you. And so going into this next game, we've gotta understand it’s a blessing to be able to go out there on the court.
“We have so much turmoil in our country, we have so much craziness surrounding politics. So we’re just fortunate and blessed to be able to put on a uniform, let our minds go and just play basketball. So we’ve gotta show that going into this next game, just go and leave it all out there on the floor. JV’s done a great job of putting guys in the right spots, the entire coaching staff has, and it’s not up to anybody else. It’s up to us.”