Bruce Brown defies an easy definition.
A sniper guard who doesn’t really shoot? A 6-foot-4 center?
Increasingly, the Nets are calling Brown indispensable. In a team with Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, his game of glue-guy has been irreplaceable.
“Bruce is remarkable,” said coach Steve Nash after Brown led the Nets in a 127-118 victory over Kings on Tuesday. “The guy played mostly as a point guard last year, and he’s playing – what do you want to call him? Our center? He is picking, rolling and ending with two bigs on the track. His willingness and ability to do this is remarkable.
“He did some 3s, but for me, it’s all other things. It is activity, defense, diversions, all these other things. You add it all up and it had a big impact on the game before it even got to the points. “
Brown had his career record of 29 points out of 11 out of 13 shots out of 20. He had eight points in the decisive 14-1 series in the fourth period, culminating in 3 consecutive points. For a player who reached 23.1 percent in the 3-point range, it was unexpected, but it generated confidence.
“Kyrie comes to me all the time. He sees me working on my shot and I know I can shoot, it’s just confidence now, ”said Brown. “So he told me ‘one per game’ before each game, and then I gave him one. If you saw us, he looked at me and said one, and I gave him two, so it was really cool. “
But it’s not just Brown’s kick that helped the Nets reach the halfway point of the Eastern Conference leadership, it’s his, well, everything.
The Pistons negotiated with Brown, 24, in November due to his limited attack, but the Nets wanted his defense and courage. And his insertion into the team on February 10 coincided with the NBA’s seven-game winning streak in Thursday’s game against Magic.
“He does a little bit of everything. He’s a guy who goes there and competes until the end every night, and great things happen to him, ”said Harden. “He assembles canvases and rolls for the basket, he is an unbelievable cutter and he showed that he is capable of dropping the 3 ball.
“He does everything. He works hard, and when you work all the way through and keep grinding and pushing, good things happen. I am happy for him and proud of him. “
The Nets are 18-6 when Brown does at least 13 minutes, but only 3-6 when he doesn’t.
“He’s always in the right position defensively, active, makes things difficult in that sense,” said Joe Harris. “He does the little things that people don’t realize.”
Brown tends to protect his opponent’s best defense threat, and Nash has found ways to mask his offensive flaws while accentuating his strengths. Although the guards are almost exclusively ball handlers in pick-and-roll, Brown stood out as the man in the roll.
“Bruce makes it look easy. It is not easy to be a 6-3 guard and catch, roll, catch the ball, finish, ”said Nash. “Bruce is special. It’s not a normal thing to ask a guard 6-3 to be the roll, so your ability to do that and finish and have the time – and will, right? Many guards would laugh at you outside the gym if you asked them to pick-and-roll. “
Like the man on the roll, Brown’s 71.4 percent shot is 14th in the NBA, and his 1.39 points for possession is seventh, better than Rudy Gobert and Bam Adebayo. Of the six men in front of him, Hornets striker Miles Bridges is the only one with less than six feet.
“I think I played 1-5 at AAU, that’s all. Maybe in college I played 4 at some point, but I never [center]”Said Brown. “I’m doing very well. I love the role, and I’m just trying to do whatever it is [takes] for us to win. I have to do this, so I will. “
Is it sustainable? It might be. It’s fun? Certainly.
“He plays hard and that skill is incredible,” said Nash, finally finding a way to describe Brown. “He is a winner.”
Nets second half schedule
March 11 vs. Boston, 7:30
March 13 vs, Det, 19h
March 15th vs. Knicks, 8pm
March 17 in Indiana at 7 pm
March 19 in Orlando, 8 pm
March 21 vs. Washington, 7 PM
March 23 in Portland, 10 pm
March 24 in Utah, 10 pm
March 26 in Denver at 7 pm
March 29 against Minnesota, 7:30 pm
March 31 vs. Houston, 7:30 PM
April 1st vs. Charlotte, 7:30 pm
April 4 in Chicago, 2pm
April 5th vs. Knicks, 19h
April 7 vs. New Orleans, 7:30 PM
April 10 vs. Lakers, 8:30 pm
April 12 in Minneesota, 8pm
April 14 in Philadelphia, 7 pm
April 16 vs. Charotte, 7:30 pm
April 18 in Miami, 3:30 pm
April 20 in New Orleans, 7:30 pm
April 21 in Toronto, 7:30 pm
April 23 vs. Boston, 7:30 pm
April 25 vs. Phoenxi, 3:30 pm
April 27 in Toronto, 7:30 pm
April 29 in Indiana at 7 pm
April 30 vs. Portland, 8:00 pm
May 2 in Milwaukee, 3:30 pm
May 4th in Milwaukee, 7:30 pm
May 6 in Dallas, 7:30 pm
May 8 in Denver, 10 pm
May 11 in Chicago, 8 pm
May 12th vs. San Antonio, 8:00 pm
May 15 vs Chicago, TBD
May 16th vs. Cleveland, TBD