Yankees
Nets
The Nets played another game that was over in the first half, which is embarrassing considering the team they faced.
This wasn’t the Celtics or the Hawks -- some teams that have recently run the Nets out of the building. This was Indiana. Granted the Pacers are now healthy with Danny Granger, Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy, Jr., and they have some good players.
But after what happened against Boston the other night, after the Nets were down 36 at halftime, you expected a better performance. But the only things anyone should come to expect from the Nets are bad offense and worse defense.
The final of this one was 121-105, so it may seem that the offense wasn’t bad. But it was.
Over a 5:44 stretch in the fateful second quarter, the Nets were 2-for-11 with three turnovers and scored five points –- truly horrendous numbers. Yet in that same time, the Pacers were 8-for-12 from the field, 6-for-6 from the line and scored 24 points. See, worse defense.
The Pacers scored 72 points in the first half. That’s awful defense.
"I really think it’s offensively," Brook Lopez said. "It’s just the shots we take. We start settling because we’re feeling confident and it hurts us because they don’t go down and they create fast-break opportunities."
Lopez is right except only four of the Pacers' points in that 24-5 run came in transition. It’s the Nets' defense. It’s always their defense.
They let the Pacers score 24 points in less than half a quarter. The Nets totaled 24 in 12 minutes of the second and 24 again in 12 minutes of the third.
The problem is the Nets allow their offense to affect their defense. They always have.
You may not believe it from looking at the final score, but this was a winnable game. The most winnable one the Nets have played since they beat the Knicks to close out 2009.
Devin Harris came out on the attack early and the Nets’ offense looked good early. They scored 31 points in the first period and led by as many as seven. But everything went south in that second, specifically in a 3:14 stretch when Harris took a breather.
The Pacers outscored the Nets 13-3 to build a 15-point lead. Ball game. Loss No. 36 in 39 games. Have a safe ride home. Amazingly, the fans stuck around and really got into late. It being a game of beach-ball keepaway with some arena ushers.
It was incredible to see how many people cheered and turned their heads to watch that. My neck hurts.
"It was that three-minute period that really hurt us," coach Kiki Vandeweghe said. "That's something we have to learn. It's a 48-minute game. It is not 45."
Usually, the Nets don’t even play 45. So this was an improvement. But until the Nets show improvement on defense, commit to getting out to shooters and prevent easy scores inside they’re going to continue to lose games like this.
They scored 101 after all; their most since the win over the Knicks. But they gave up 121; their most in 16 games.
Chris Douglas-Roberts said it best: “I think we should emphasize it a little more. That’s just the way I feel.”
The feeling must not be shared by enough Nets’ players and coaches.
Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)
