Brooklyn Nets: Flat Tire In Motor City

From the desk: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

TUESDAY

Nets          111

Pistons     122

FINAL

Terrible is as terrible does ...

Playing without Kevin Durant is no excuse.  Not when you have James Harden and Kyrie Irving on the floor, and not when you're playing the Pistons (6-18) who not only scored forty first-half points in the paint but at one point led by twenty points and effectively closed out the game leading by 14-points with less than four minutes left in the game.  After yielding 38-points in the first quarter, the damage was done.  The rest is just garbage time ... literally.  They lost the first quarter by twelve points.  Joe Harris opened the scoring with a three-pointer, after which Brooklyn trailed for the final 46:03 minutes of the game en route to an eleven point loss.

These are the games when the Nets need Joe Harris to step it up.  Durant hasn't played since the NBA's COVID fiasco against the Raptors.  After getting erased by the Sixers at Philadelphia, Harris on Tuesday was just 2/6 from the floor, all attempts from behind the arc.  Five other Nets put up more shot attempts than Joe.  That shouldn't be.  Behind James Harden and Kyrie Irving (who was playing with a compromised finger), Joe Harris should have been a definitive third in shot attempts.  He was also no help on the boards with just one rebound in 34 minutes - the team's third-most minutes.  It's not like Harden and Irving weren't looking to pass.  Both joined for 19 assists, but Joe Harris, for the second game in a row playing without Durant, failed to be a viable option.

DeAndre Jordan scored nine points and secured a team-high nine rebounds in 23 minutes but committed five turnovers and was victimized by players coming from all directions attacking the paint.  Which is to say, no one covered their man with any degree of success.  I shot the below Tweet in frustration over one particular defensive series in the first quarter.  If you watched the game, you know which one I'm talking about; the same one James Harden took him to task over.  But I stand by it.  The Nets have zero depth at the center as it is.  That's why it's incumbent upon Jordan to give opponents something else to think about.  Joel Embiid had his way on Saturday with 33 points.  On Tuesday, former Net Mason Plumlee put up a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds with seven assists in 38 minutes.

sorry, man, if DeAndre Jordan isn't committing five fouls a night he's not earning his keep! c#Nets. .

— B'klynTrolleyBlogger (@BTB_MikeII) February 10, 2021

Before Coach Nash emptying the bench, the collective contributed just 25 points, led by Landry Shamet's ten points in 18 minutes.  Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot continues to sputter.  Back on the bench after starting and playing 33 minutes at Philadelphia, TLC was just 1/3 from the floor in 20 minutes. 

Quick turnaround ... they travel home and host the Pacers Wednesday night.