On April 1, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Nets lost to the Bucks 119-120. In this game, some Nets fans believe that their side lost to the referee, because the Nets only won 16 free throws in the whole game, 18 fewer than the opponent.
It must be admitted that the referee of this game may be controversial in the blow penalty on individual rounds, but the difference in the number of free throws between the two sides of the game is so large, in fact, there is another important reason, that is, the Nets' lineup on the court is too small.
The Nets are currently played by Drummond and Clarkston in No. 5 and Durant and James Johnson in No. 4 positions, and in these two positions, their height problems are not big. Starting from the No. 3 position, the Nets' height has plummeted, the main player Brown is only 1 meter 93 tall, Irving and Curry Jr. have a strong combination of offensive ability in the backcourt, but the defense is visible to the naked eye.
Their benches are Dragic and Mills, and even Nash sometimes poses as a 3-guard formation, in which case the Nets are obviously at a loss, which is also an important reason why they have made 34 free throws by their opponents.
The lack of manpower on the front has become a fatal injury to the Nets. In an interview after the game, Nash was also eager to hope that Ben Simmons would return as soon as possible. But the problem is that when Simmons' back injury will heal is completely uncertain, and he has not played for a season, and there is no tacit understanding with his new teammates, expecting him to fight the fire in the playoffs is actually not realistic. In this case, rather than unrealistically waiting for Simmons, Nash would dig in and reactivate Griffin. But it's important to note that instead of letting Griffin play in the No. 5 position, try to let him go to the No. 4 position to share the pressure for Durant, or let Durant return to the No. 3 position, so that the Nets will change from the weak side to the dominant side.
Griffin has averaged only 6.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game this season, which is indeed a significant decline compared to last season's status, but no matter how much, his ability is not inferior to That of James Johnson. And Griffin's form has picked up significantly recently, with his three-pointers shooting 7-of-13 from 7-of-13 shooting in the March game.
In last year's playoff showdown, Griffin's effect on the alphabet brother was actually very good, although it could not completely prevent the latter, but it could also play a certain role in consumption and limitation. But in this game with the Bucks, Griffin did not play for 1 second, which is actually very undeserved.
Considering that Ade can return in the future, the Nets are not short of people in the No. 5 position, and the No. 3 and No. 4 positions are in short supply, in this case, Nash may also properly consider letting Griffin try it in the No. 4 position, rather than limiting him to the No. 5 position, and then not giving him a second to play.