It may not have been quite the preview of the NBA Finals we were hoping for, but the Brooklyn Nets still had one of their most important wins of the season when they traveled to Staples Center and defeated defending champions Lakers 109-98. With Anthony Davis, Dennis Schroder and Kevin Durant and several Lakers suffering minor injuries during the game, it was hardly the clash of the titans we expected, but for Brooklyn it is another step towards the championship team that they expected. hope to build.
They enter this west coast voyage with a somewhat disappointing 15-12 record, but with four consecutive wins in the books and three against playoff teams, the Nets seem to be straightening the ship and moving to the top of the Eastern Conference. James Harden took the lead with 23 points, 11 assists and six rebounds, but it was Brooklyn’s excellent shooting that gave the lead. The Nets scored 18 three-pointers en route to victory. The Lakers scored just eight.
The Lakers continue to struggle with Davis’ absence, and because Dennis Schroder has been ruled out of the league due to the league’s health and safety protocols, there is nothing to know when he will return. LeBron James is no stranger to performing weaker teams, but if he is to keep the Lakers in the race for the West American tournament, he will have to play some of the best basketball in his career. Even a 32-point, eight-rebound, 7-assist night was not enough against the Nets.
With so many players out, it’s hard to get too much out of this game, but there were still some notable takeaways from Brooklyn’s win.
LeBron in the post
The Nets made a calculated decision on Thursday that will have consequences if these teams meet in the final. See how long LeBron waits before moving into the post against Jeff Green.
LeBron is waiting for a double team. He does it with good reason. Aside from the James-Davis pick-and-roll, the Lakers do not have a better form of offense than LeBron James post-ups, and this is more often due to defense being too dedicated. Last season, the Lakers scored 1,262 points per possession with James passing out. For reference: the entire offense of Brooklyn this season scored 1,179 points per possession this season. Only Nikola Jokic is more dangerous as a post-passer than LeBron. If you give him a 4-on-3, he will find the open man.
Brooklyn did not give him the chance. LeBron spent his mail possession waiting for doubles that did not come. There are now ways to produce this double game. Notice DeAndre Jordan scurries about when LeBron gets the mismatch against Tyler Johnson.
The Nets link everything in defense. LeBron is one of the most furious hunters in basketball. He did a lot of that in the competitive part of this game, and fourth quarters in a final of the final are going to include a steady diet of it. If LeBron can get small defenders on him in the post, yes, Brooklyn will have to double down and on the best hope.
But when they had a defender in Green, they played him straight. LeBron won those exchanges with the turnaround. It was one of his biggest weapons this season. But it’s a sacrifice the Nets are willing to make. They would rather beat LeBron as a goal scorer than a passer. The numbers support the theory. In general, post-passes are more effective than post-shots, and LeBron is no exception. But defending LeBron is likely. You do not lock him up. You pick the right poison. The Lakers scored just 98 points on Thursday. The Nets chose right.
Brooklyn’s Mathematical Advantage
The Nets scored 18 tries ahead of the Lakers’ eight-pointer, but the foul time made the margin seem smaller than it really was. At one point in the third quarter, the Nets made 16 3s, and the Lakers tried just 17 tries. Think of the enormous mathematical advantage that the margin offers to the Nets. Even if garbage time was included, Brooklyn scored 30 points behind the arc as the Lakers.
Asking the Lakers to make these points on a regular night is not exactly an easy task. The Lakers and Nets average about the same number of free throw attempts per game. The Lakers have an average of five more points in the paint per night. Usually the gap in three points is not going to be quite that big, but just look at who the Lakers are going to play in the playoffs.
|
3-point trial rate |
3-point attempt pace |
3-point percentage |
3-point percentage rank |
|
|
Brooklyn Nette |
48.3% |
8 |
40.7% |
2 |
|
Milwaukee Bucks |
42.4% |
10 |
39.8% |
3 |
|
Utah Jazz |
41.7% |
1 |
39.3% |
4 |
|
Los Angeles Clippers |
39.4% |
15 |
42.2% |
1 |
The teams that the Lakers are going to have to beat if they win the championship all take a lot of 3s and make the most of it. They all play games with that mathematical advantage, and with the NBA’s offensive baseline leaning more and more toward 3s, so few of them (and making even less) are becoming more and more dangerous. The Lakers occupy 25th place in the three-point effort rate and 18th in percentage. They will have this disadvantage against everyone.
Can they still win the championship despite this disadvantage? Yes. Absolutely. They just did it. But this year’s best shooting teams are better than they ever were. It’s going to be significantly harder than last season. The Lakers can make their lives easier by taking on more 3s, and adding even one consistent, first-class catch-and-shoot player will make a huge difference. But at the moment, they run into a wall of their own bricks, and that hinders anything they want to do offensively.
The Nets can bounce back
There has been a desire since Brooklyn acquired James Harden to return with their defense as a weak point. It’s wise on paper when you consider how many minutes the play is without a big man, but in reality it just was not true. The Nets were 15th in the rebound rate on Thursday. They make up 49.9 percent of the available rebounds. It’s as average as it gets on average, and against the best teams they tend to do even better.
Consider it with a grain of salt considering Davis’ absence, but the Lakers are fifth in the rebound rate and Brooklyn has only brought it back 39 times. The Bucks are fourth in the rebound rate and the Nets outscored them 55-49. The Clippers are in sixth place and the Nets surpassed them by 50 to 45. Brooklyn’s 10-1 record against teams above .500 is well known, but much of their success against the top teams appears to be on improved rebound. If it counts, it goes well with the glass.
Will it now hold out in seven games against Joel Embiid or Anthony Davis? That’s hard to say. At the very least, it should probably be noted that just as the Lakers have a serious shooting disadvantage over their competition, the Nets have a rebound disadvatange against them. Five of the top six rebel teams in the NBA, the Jazz, Sixers, Bucks, Lakers and Clippers, are championship candidates.
But a slight setback is a small price to pay for everything Brooklyn gets out of its micro-setup. Defense is a real concern, but it’s just not for the time being. The Nets held up quite well in this regard.