With Kyrie Irving's expected return approaching, Grizzlies embarrass Nets
Published: January 3, 2021 US time
Publisher: the Athletic
Article author: Alex Schiffer
Article translated by de Gaulle
On January 1, local time, after squandering a maximum of 14 points of the lead and eventually losing to the Clippers, who were short of manpower, the Nets core Kevin Durant criticized the team's current game mentality in the post-game press conference, and Durant's original words were that the team was playing "with a rotten attitude". From the wording to the attitude, Durant's disappointment with the Nets' performance today can be felt.
As a result, just 48 hours after Durant's remarks, the Nets responded on the court with an even more painful loss, losing 104-118 to the Grizzlies. If you consider that the Grizzlies once extended their lead to 28 points in the game, it can be understood that the Nets can be said to be uncompetitive in this game.
One of the big reasons for the Nets' loss is that Durant, the core of the team, has rarely played abnormally. The league's leading scorer, who has averaged 29.7 points per game this season, scored 26 points on just 8-of-24 shooting against the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies, on the other hand, under the leadership of Morant, who scored 36 points, have built a huge lead of 61 to 33 in terms of rebounding alone. With the advantage in rebounds, the Grizzlies scored 29 points on the second offense.
The losing Nets have not only suffered three consecutive defeats, but they have not won a single one this season against the top 4 teams in the East and West. The ability of this championship favourite team to fight hard is still seriously questioned. "It was really embarrassing," head coach Nash concluded after the game, "we were really kicked in the ass by the opponent. ”
While losing and losing streaks are uncomfortable, the Nets aren't completely hopeless. Not far away, a strong reinforcement was waving at them, and that was Kerry Owen.
Irving, who has lifted the new crown isolation and returned to the team's training ground, the time to return to the NBA stage has officially entered the countdown. Due to New York City's special epidemic prevention regulations, Irving is temporarily unable to play in the home game. However, Irving can play away. After the Nets finish this game with the Grizzlies, they will leave for Indianapolis to prepare for the game against the Pacers on January 6, Beijing time. While head coach Nash has yet to be sure Irving will come on, he has relented in saying he "hopes" Irving can play.
Whether it is from a long-term perspective or recent performance, Irving's return today can be said to be "sending charcoal in the snow". The Nets officially announced the next away game against the Pacers through the ceiling big screen at home after the home game against the Grizzlies. The photo of Owen wearing a basketball tennis suit was placed prominently in the trailer. It can be seen that Irving's comeback is already on the string.
"If nothing else, he's first and foremost an efficient player who can put pressure on the opposing defence and at the same time is also very good at defending individually," Durant said of Irving, "so we're looking forward to what he can bring to us on the pitch as a player." At the same time, we also look forward to how much energy he can bring to the team as a member of our team. We are very much looking forward to and will continue to promote the construction of the team on this basis. ”
At the end of December, the Nets were postponed for three consecutive games due to the coronavirus infection of several players. After returning to the game, they defeated the Lakers and Clippers in Los Angeles and won consecutive victories. At the same time, the recovery of James Harden's state has made the Nets full of hope for the future. But who could have predicted that this hope would turn into a disappointment of 3 consecutive defeats in the blink of an eye. Nash said after losing to the 76ers that the Nets may have been a little overly optimistic when they won back-and-forth in Los Angeles.
After playing the 76ers, the Nets lost consecutive games to the Clippers and Grizzlies. The main reason for the loss was that the team's offensive system was stuck in stagnation, and Patti Mills was in a state of decline. Originally, the 33-year-old Mills has always played well, with a 44% three-point shooting rate, Mills can average 14 points per game, which is a stable scoring point around Durant and Harden. But once Mills couldn't find a crosshair, the Nets' offense was prone to struggle. This season, mills will shoot more than 10 percentage points between winning and losing games, and the three-point shooting rate will be 14.8%.
Against the Grizzlies, Mills was 0-of-6 and didn't score a single point. Against the Clippers, Mills scored 17 points, but he left the game with six fouls left with 4 minutes and 47 seconds left. Although the Nets were still leading by seven points at the time, after Mills left the game, the Clippers piled all their defensive forces on Harden and Durant, frantically wrapping up the two. As a result, the rest of the Nets were unable to send the ball into the basket from the two giants and watched as the Clippers reversed the situation and took away a four-point victory.
"Now our offensive burden is on his (Mills), Kevin (Durant) and James (Harden), plus Joe (Harris) is not there, so the task of shooting from the outside is up to him alone," Nash said of Mills. He played well on many nights, and was naturally allowed to play abnormally on some nights. He's played a lot of time before and has a lot of responsibility, so we all understand that. ”
In addition to the offensive problems, the Nets' defense has also declined to a certain extent. Although their defensive efficiency is still in the league's top ten, their defensive efficiency in the past three lost games has only ranked 25th during this time. Originally, in order to strengthen the defense, Nash arranged three defensive sharps at Durant and Harden, Bruce Brown, Bambry and James Johnson. However, this lineup could not open up space on the offensive end, focusing the pressure on the two cores. The lack of offense caused a reaction to the team's overall defense.
"That's the situation we're often facing right now," Nash said, "and we were supposed to put on this lineup and we wanted to increase our rebounding prowess and reduce the likelihood of mistakes on the defensive end." But when Carey and Joe Harris return, we'll have a much broader space. At the moment, we do have some challenges when we use this lineup. Next, when our squad is complete, we're going to have to make trouble for the other teams. ”
Nash doesn't have to wait too long, Irving can return to the Nets as soon as the next game. Having such a star player back in the lineup is definitely great news for the Nets. Although Irving, who can only play in away games, his return is bound to bring a new challenge to the Nets. But compared to the "uncertainty" brought by Irving, the situation of losing consecutive games today is even more unacceptable to the Nets. The hope of ending this situation is now in Owen's body.