The Brooklyn Nets were the Wizards, with multiple players missing the game and the likes of Durant, Harris, Millsap and Bembry were unable to play. The Nets eventually narrowly beat the Wizards 119-118 and returned to the winning track. In this game, the Nets were almost killed by the Wizards with an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter, and the team exposed several fatal flaws, which is also a problem that the Nets have been facing this season.
Both sides are focused on offense in this game, and in terms of scoring efficiency, the Nets are better. Irving and Aldridge were like nobody in the first half, leading the Nets to widen the point difference to more than 10 points in the first half. The Wizards are very aware of their strengths in this game, from the beginning of the game to focus on the Nets inside, many times in the offensive end to use the height advantage, fight to the front court rebounds, get a second point. This makes the Nets not pull the point difference to the point of no return.
In the first half, Irving scored 22 points, Aldridge scored 19 points, and Ade only conceded one goal in the first half.
In the second half, the Wizards began to improve their defensive intensity on the court, which made it difficult for the Nets to score on the offensive end, scoring only 45 points in the second half. In the third quarter, although the Nets did not score high, they could also limit the opponent's points, and the wizards only scored 24 points in the third quarter. But in the fourth quarter, the Wizards once again upgraded the defensive intensity and played a wave of offensive climax, and the Nets were able to maintain the point difference with Mills' two three-pointers. The Nets then hit the inside line frequently, with Kuzma, Dinwiddie and Harrell scoring consecutive interior scores to narrow the point gap to one point.
Irving, Edwards and Harden stepped up to score, pulling the gap apart again, and the Wizards narrowed the gap to two points with three minutes left in the game, stopping the Nets, and after the timeout came back, Nash learned to take Aldridge back to the court. In the face of the opponent's wild bombardment of the inside line, Nash did not know how to use Ade until the last moment, which was really an afterthought. After Ade came on the court, he immediately made a contribution, scoring six consecutive points to stabilize the situation. The Wizards used Bill and Kuzma to chase the point difference to one point, and the Nets' last attack, Irving and Harden, missed the shot, giving the Wizards a chance to kill, but Kuzma missed an empty shot, and the reverse helped the Nets save the victory, and finally the Nets narrowly won the Wizards 119-118.
After this game, the Nets once again exposed four major Achilles heels.
First, the team's internal line is weak
The Nets' starting lineup for this game is Harden, Irving, Mills, Sharp and Edwards, and this lineup has been targeted by the Wizards on the court, especially after the opponent replaced Harrell, all the way to the Nets' interior line. Only after Ade played, although it could not limit the Wizards' interior attack, it was fortunate that Ade could give a counterattack.
Second, the defensive ability is not strong
Facing two teams with more unrestrained play, both sides did not have intensity in the first half, which made the Nets score more easily, and the team's stars had a higher personal feel, which made the Nets easily see the point difference to more than 10 points. In the second half, the Wizards began to defend seriously, and the Nets scored less easily, and although Irving and Ade could score with their personal ability, the overall strength of the team could not be played.
In such a situation, in the face of the Wizards' strong impact, the Nets could not keep up with the rhythm of the other side on the defensive end, which made the Wizards chase the score back step by step.
Third, Harden's status is still a mystery
Although Harden had 18 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists in this game, he made as many as 8 mistakes and shot only 30% from the field, shooting 7 of 21, 0 of 5 three-pointers and 4 of 6 from the free throw line. Two key handling of the ball in the final quarter allowed the Nets to fail to score offensively, giving the opponent a chance to convert points.
It's still on the road, with Irving on the court to help him share the pressure, in his state, if he returns home, without Irving's help, Ade's feel is slightly down, and the Nets want to win is very difficult.
Fourth, Nash has no sense of existence in the whole field
The Nets went smoothly in the first half and didn't need Nash to make any changes. But in the second half, when the team had difficulty scoring, Nash did not give a solution, and the fiery Ade in the first half did not get many shooting opportunities. In the fourth quarter, the Wizards played several offensive climaxes to narrow the point gap, and Nash did not make adjustments. Faced with the Wizards' huge advantage on the inside, it wasn't until the last three minutes that Nash remembered Aldridge, which only solved the Nets' problem on the offensive end.
Nash didn't handle the Wizards' first time, and still failed to make adjustments when they chased points for the second and third time. If Kuzma had scored that deadlocked three-pointer in the final moments and the Nets had lost the game, how would Nash himself have been embarrassed?
Player data for both sides of the match
Nets: Irving 30 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal, Harden 18 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, Mills 17 points and 5 rebounds, Sharp 14 points and 6 rebounds, Aldridge 27 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, Edwards 5 points and 4 rebounds, Thomas 4 points, Brown 4 points and 3 rebounds.
Wizards: Beal 23 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, Kuzma 16 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block, Dinwiddie 11 points and 5 assists, Pope 9 points, Garford 8 points, Harrell 14 points and 6 rebounds, Hachimura 14 points and 5 rebounds, Avdia 13 points and 5 rebounds, Bryant 6 points and 5 rebounds.