The defense was almost as bad as two days before – but this time there was no violent attack or turnaround in the fourth period to save the Nets.
Or to hide the Achilles’ heel.
The Nets took one on the Hawks’ collective chin, a 114-96 defeat at the Barclays Center on Friday night that put all their faults on display.
“We didn’t kick the ball well, but we didn’t do many other things well,” said coach Steve Nash. “It is early and we need more time to delve into the concepts, but both sides of the ball need a lot of cleaning. Although we are frustrated, we have to persist. “
There was a great need for cleaning after that.
Of course, Kevin Durant was with his usual stellar personality, with 28 points and eight rebounds. But although Kyrie Irving finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, he suffered a bad night of pitches: 6 out of 21 overall and 2 out of 11 in the 3 point range.
Joe Harris was the only other double-digit scorer for the Nets, who hit just 7 out of 37 from the bottom. Even more threatening, they never found a way to land the Hawks.
“Give them credit for keeping the ball in their hands and finding something in our defense that works,” said Durant. “They stayed in that pick-and-roll all night and were able to keep the ball in their hands and hit a good shot every time.
“We can’t just rely on shooting. Jeff Green said that in the locker room and I totally agree. We will have days when the guys won’t kick, but we have to hang our hat on the defensive side. … All the teams in the world say that. It is easier said than done. But if we become aware of it, we will improve. “
De’Andre Hunter (23 points), Trae Young (21 points, seven assists) and John Collins (20 points, eight bags) led six players in double figures for Atlanta, who hit 46.2 percent overall and went 16 for 39 behind the arch.
“We just strayed from our principles,” said Green, who joined Durant, Irving and Nash to speak in the locker room. “We allowed them to space us, which allowed them to get on the track a lot. We stop helping each other, being on the line and being attentive to the staff. He ran away from us.
“It was nothing special. We just need to be together and on nights like this we have to come together and focus on our defense ”.
Despite a bad start, the Nets somehow only lost 29-27 with 11:06 remaining in the first half. But they conceded a 19-5 streak, as their defense was destroyed by Clint Capela. He had three dunks during the wave and his 7:42 turn left Nets in a 48-32 hole.
The Nets (3-3) went into the locker room with nine points, and Irving’s 3 points to open half reduced the deficit to 61-55. But the momentum was short-lived.
Clinging to hope, with a 74-68 handicap after a Harris corner 3, the Nets were defeated 15-5 in the final 5:51 of the third quarter.
The Nets were left behind by 19 in a Brandon Goodwin 3, and the deficit widened to 97-77 in Kevin Huerter’s 3 with 8:33 remaining. It was an unfortunate defensive display, which the veteran leadership talked about in the locker room.
“It sticks more because your ears are more open because you’re thinking about what just happened,” said Green. “So, the message had to be said – coming from whether it was me, Kyrie when he spoke, Coach Nash, Kev. We all contribute. We all realize what went wrong.
“This is the best part: we are understanding what we need to do to achieve what we want.”
Harris recognized that.
“It was well received because what he said was 100% accurate,” said Harris. “We know what we have to clean up and we have to be a little more solid in the defensive part, because offensively we will not have problems in that part. A lot of that will be us propping up some things defensively. “