Ten days ago, a brutal defeat for the Detroit Pistons forced the Brooklyn Nets to reorient themselves. Since then, the Nets have been riding a winning streak, the latest a 109-98 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
Brooklyn has taken a step towards solving its defensive puzzle and is in the middle of a five-game winning streak.
“What [Detroit loss] it was low for us and provoked some conversations and a kind of rededication to what we are trying to do, “said Nets coach Steve Nash.” I am proud of the way they have responded since then, obviously taking care of business. “
The Nets’ 122-111 defeat to Detroit on February 9 was horrible. But after allowing the Pistons to throw 56% of the field in that game – the highest percentage of field goal they have allowed in a game this season – Brooklyn has narrowed defensively. The Nets’ five consecutive wins mark the longest winning streak of the season.
“It was time to turn the corner defensively,” said Irving with a smile. “No team is going to win anything in this league if they can’t stop. It’s about time. And we’ve heard them loud and clear in the last few games.”
In the 13 games Nets played from January 16 to February 9, Nets contested 85.5% of the shots in the painting, according to Second Spectrum tracking. This ranked 28th in the NBA. Against the Pistons on February 9, Brooklyn contested only 78.6% of the pitches in the painting, the second worst percentage of pitches in any game since the acquisition of point guard James Harden in a mid-January exchange.
But since February 10, the Nets have been contesting 91.1% of the shots in the painting – the NBA’s sixth highest rate.
“I think after our game against Detroit, it was obviously a game where we fought a lot in defense and it was kind of, not a breaking point, but it just happened several times up to that point,” said Joe Harris. “I think that after that game only the level of focus, the attention to detail and the intensity of the defense increased.”
Brooklyn has kept opponents under 100 points three times since Harden’s switch, and two of those occurrences have happened in the last five games – including against the Lakers. On the other side of the ball, Brooklyn hit 18 out of 39 from a 3 point gap on Thursday and is now shooting the 42% mark past the arc since Harden joined the team.
Irving finished with 16 points against the Lakers. Harris added 21 points, and James Harden had 23 points and 11 assists.
“It is scary when other teams are doing their best to stay in the game defensively and we continue to increase offensive execution,” said Irving.
He added: “We know this doesn’t happen very often when you bring together a large collection of guys who were prominent in their roles on their respective teams and you have guys coming out of the bank who are owners of other teams.”