On January 8, Beijing time, the East ushered in the focus of the battle, the Nets against the Bucks, and finally the Nets lost this game 109-121, in the past 5 games, the Nets lost 4 games, the only win is Irving's comeback, against the Pacers.
Although the Nets are still ranked second in the East, the Nets' record is 0-8 against the powerful teams in the East and West, why did such a powerful Nets team last year pull so far? Just because of the lack of Owen? The answer is not so simple, and this last point is the key to the Nets.
1. Defensive issues
The so-called offense wins the game, defense wins the championship, although this sentence was negated by the insoluble offense of the Nets' big three last season, but this season this year this conclusion is indeed very suitable for the Nets.
In the last season, the Nets have Irving, Durant and Harden three major offensive weapons, when the team faces any opponent, the Nets can use offense to solve the problem, the epic level of the big three attack let many fans ignore the Nets' defensive problems, but, this season, Irving's flaws, Harden is slow to find the state, which makes the Nets' offensive effectiveness seriously reduced, previously you can use offense to make up for defensive deficiencies, and now in the face of weak teams, The Nets can still rely on durant and Harden's offense to make up for defensive deficiencies, but when the team encounters strong teams such as bucks, warriors and suns, Harden and Durant's offense is not enough to make up for defensive deficiencies, and the Nets' loss is also an inevitable factor. Therefore, when the Nets are not smooth in offense, they must improve their defense, otherwise they want to go further, which is basically a luxury.
2. Harden is sluggish, Irving is absent
This problem is a problem that cannot be ignored, last season's Big Three, less Irving's offense at this point, the Nets' offensive effectiveness is definitely declining, in the face of major teams, less Irving's breakthrough, the opponent's defensive pressure came to Durant and Harden.
So far this season, Ha has averaged 22.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 9.8 assists, although from the data point of view, there is not much gap with last season, but the average of 4.8 times per game of mistakes, high in the league, and every time in the strong team, Harden's performance is very stretched, some fans say that Harden's own problem, there are fans said that Harden is affected by the new rules of the league, but no matter what, Harden's current state is indeed very worrying to fans.
3. The core of the team must be Harden
So far this season, the core of the Nets has always been Durant, ranking second in the league in 37.1 minutes of average playing time, which is where fans complain about Nash, although Durant has an unsolvable offense and undifferentiated singles ability, but the core of the team must be placed on Harden.
In this year's Nets game, Harden and Durant played at the same time, the Nets are often Based on Durant as the core, and Harden is more often the second choice of the team, which is really puzzling, after all, Harden is the commander of the team, Durant is more suitable for playing without the ball than Harden, and Harden's organizational ability is not available to Durant, and Harden is not suitable for playing without the ball, all Harden must be the brain of the team and the first ball holding point, which is when Harden and Durant lead the team, They can play good games, but one of the main reasons why they can't win when they are on the field at the same time.