Brooklyn Nets: Flatbush Outlasts Knicks in Season's Opening Battle of the Boroughs

From the desks: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH & KICKIN' CANS DOWN 33RD STREET WIT' JIMMY

EAST RIVER SHOWDOWN

I - BKN 112; NYK 110

A Decisive James Harden Leads Flatbush Against Manhattan Rival

I preface this game recap acknowledging that RJ Barrett left after just nine minutes on the floor, and Coach Thibodeau, for lack of sufficient effort on defense, essentially benched Kemba Walker.  Meanwhile, Flatbush likewise entered this game somewhat rearranged, with Blake Griffin no longer in the starting lineup, Joe Harris out pending ankle surgery, and of course the controversial missing man variable.  

Thus lay the pretext to a tightly contested one-point margin of victory.  In the final second of the game, the team that possessed the ball got off one last desperation shot, missed, and lost.  That's how closely Tuesday's first showdown this season played out between the host Brooklyn Nets and the East River traversing Manhattan Knickerbockers.

After every game, top players around the league are unavoidably confronted by media and their microphones.  They ask questions, even ones they know sometimes are circumstantial or even uncomfortably unanswerable, yet in return, expect some level of inside info.  It's part of the job.  My point is, James Harden can say anything he wants insofar as telling the media he's still learning when to distribute, orchestrate, or personally seize upon a given possession.  But I say all that is just talk for the sake of talk.  For James Harden knows precisely what he's doing.  It's about other players not named Kevin Durant following Harden's lead and finishing.

Thrust into the starting lineup by Coach Thibs, Alec Burks, and Julius Randle for the Knicks, and Harden and Kevin Durant for Flatbush are the measures of this game.  They were the only four with 20+ shot attempts and topped all other players in minutes.

James Harden led all scorers with 34 points and secured a game-high ten rebounds with eight assists in 40 minutes.  He was 11/20 from the field and a more customary 9/10 from the line.  Otherwise, Harden knows turnovers continue marring his overall performance; this time, he committed a game-high five.

Kevin Durant was 0/5 from beyond the arc but made up for it by shooting 9/9 from the charity line en route to 27 points while (importantly) tying for a game-high nine assists in 41 minutes.  Together with Harden, they accounted for 61 (54.4%) of Brooklyn's 112 points.

Alec Burks led the Knicks with 25 points in 39 minutes, and Julius Randle added 24 points and posted team-highs of nine rebounds and eight assists in 40 minutes.  Together, they accounted for 49 (44.5%) of the Knicks' 110 points.

The Knicks outrebounded the Nets by four and put up six more shots than Brooklyn.  This continues to be a troubling trend for me, but the Nets bailed themselves out, again, outscoring the Knicks by a margin of eleven at the line.  And whereas the Nets were outscored in the paint, they outscored the Knicks off fast-break opportunities.

Manhattan had five players score in double-digits.  Derrick Rose scored 16 points in 36 minutes, and with 0.17 seconds left in the game, Evan Fournier tied the game at 110-110 as part of a 13 point night.  But James Johnson's free throws put the Nets back ahead by two.  Afterwhich, Even Fournier missed on a last-second attempt.

The Nets had four players in double-digits.  Cam Thomas led the bench effort with 12 points in 21 minutes.  However, the Knicks bench outscored Flatbush by a nine-point 36-27 margin.

If a 15-6 record makes me anxious ... it is what it is.  Teams nearing (or even matching) the Nets in shooting percentage are very problematic as Flatbush continually allows the opposition more possessions and overall shot opportunities.  

It's been my pet peeve all season.

Defense is the main issue with the Knicks.  They went from being elite defenders last season to the middle of the pack this season.  It's quite the conundrum when this team last season in the playoffs lacked desperately for points.

Brooklyn Nets Tenth Season On Flatbush Avenue Begins

From the desk: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

YEAR TEN

Year Nine ended with the franchise's highest ever NBA winning percentage.  Otherwise, the Long Island Nets sandwiched a franchise-best .690 win percentage in between two ABA championships.

There are several obvious reasons why I believe today the Nets are not defending NBA champions.  I suspect James Harden's early-season conditioning at Houston caught up to him after seizing the point position in Brooklyn.  I still believe Kyrie Irving (sprained ankle) was undercut during the conference semifinals by Giannis Antetokounmpo and because Kevin Durant has big feet.

That last part was said by Kevin Durant in jest, but the upcoming 2021-2022 season is no joking matter.  As the doors swing open for Barclays Center's tenth NBA season, Sean Marks has a small window of opportunity.  Kevin Durant recently signed a four-year extension.  But James Harden had until Monday, October 18, 2021, to pick up the option on his contract and (for a known amount) extend his time on Flatbush Avenue through the 2023-2024 season.  News of his decision is pending.  Harden otherwise becomes a free agent at the end of this season, although he already expressed a desire to stay in Brooklyn.

Speaking of decisions, let me be clear: my opinion about Kyrie Irving doesn't matter.  Whatever Sean Marks says and does is where I stand.  In strict basketball terms, I'm only interested in uniformed players.  I'll embrace his presence if and when he returns to the floor.  Otherwise, ya can't begrudge people for their personal beliefs.  

I'm more interested in who or how many it takes to fill the void.  Sean Marks imported a lot of new faces.  But my attention remains frustratingly fixated on one person in particular.  Without going through the whole rigmarole, I'll pick up with last season's playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks:

1. After just 0:43 seconds into Game One, the Nets lost James Harden.  With Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving still on the floor, Joe Harris stepped up with 19 points and a +6 in 34:18 minutes.
2. James Harden is out in Game Two.  With Durant and Kyrie on the floor, Joe Harris added 13 points and +25 in 30:20 minutes.
3. Harden likewise misses Game Three.  But Joe Harris scored just 3 points with a -11 in 36:38 minutes.
4. After spending just 17:17 minutes on the floor, the Nets lose Kyrie Irving in Game Four to an ankle injury - out for the series.  With Harden and Irving both out, Joe Harris scored 8 points with a -17 in 38:04 minutes.
5. A compromised James Harden returns in Game Five and continues playing out the series.  Joe Harris contributed a mere 5 points with a +3 in 37:02 minutes.
6. In Game Six, Joe Harris scored 9 points with a -25 in 36:27 minutes.
7. In the decisive Game Seven, Joe Harris scored ten points with a -1 in 46:55 minutes.

... and this is my problem.  Over the final five games when the Nets needed Joe Harris to step up most, he averaged just 7 points and a -10 in 39:12 minutes.  I'm not entertaining a particular shot he may have made or his celebrated shooting percentage from three.  With James Harden or Kyrie Irving out of action, sometimes both at the same time, Joe Cool went ice cold.  Now, 30-years old, entering his sixth season with the Nets, he is essentially faced with the same situation and circumstances ...

... except for the off-season and those vying for his playing time.

In July, Sean Marks, with the 27th overall selection in the 2021 draft, selected guard Cam Thomas out of LSU.   Marks signed free agent Patty Mills and DeAndre' Bembry in August.  Mills won a championship with the 2014 San Antonio Spurs and has averaged 10.0 points in 23.1 minutes, playing primarily off Gregg Popovich's bench for the last six seasons.  Sean Marks also traded Landry Shamet to the Phoenix Suns for 26-year old point guard Jevon Carter and center Day'Ron Sharpe.

LaMarcus Aldridge played in just five games upon last season's acquisition.  He last participated in a regular-season game on April 10 and soon after was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat forcing him into retirement.  If the 36-year old is indeed feeling up to the task, he can be a tremendous asset on defense.  LaMarcus played in three of four preseason games, and in the finale against Minnesota, scored 16 points in 24 minutes off the bench.  He was 4/8 from the field and a perfect 8/8 from the line.  Newcomers and fellow 36-year old Paul Millsap, James Johnson, and returnees Nicolas Claxton and Blake Griffin together should ably handle the four and five spots.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Bruce Brown.  He, above and beyond every complimentary player discussed here, can perhaps best recover potential points lost in Kyrie Irving's absence.  In his first season upon his acquisition from Detroit, Brown averaged 8.8 points in 22.3 minutes through 65 of Brooklyn's 72 games.  

But that doesn't nearly tell the whole story.  Brown scored 20-plus points three times with a season-high 29 points in February against Sacramento and scored double-digit points 24 other times.  Bruce Brown finished the season very strong.  Thirteen of 27 total double-digit performances came in his first 40 games, whereas 14 came in his last 25 regular-season games.  Meanwhile, five of his six double-double efforts occurred in his last eleven regular-season games.  Hopefully, there's more of that to come.

With Kevin Durant and James Harden leading the way, this team absolutely can bring an NBA championship to Flatbush.

So, here we go ... let's do this.  Hopefully, year ten will be the best season of all.

Go, Brooklyn.