James Harden seemingly couldn’t believe it.
After he made his presence felt both as a scorer and rebounder, Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis delivered a one-armed rifle pass out of the high post, over Harden’s shoulder, to his cutting teammate Malcolm Brogdon.
And after Brogdon scored to continue keeping the Nets at bay, Harden turned around and flailed his arms in disbelief — as if he had asked: “What are we doing?”
That’s the question Sabonis, and players like him, pose to a Nets team that has historically struggled to defend skilled big men who space the floor from 3. It’s not a problem unique to Brooklyn, but it’s one the Nets struggled to solve. The Nets rallied from down 18, a deficit caused largely by Sabonis’ impact, and won their 14th game in 15 outings, 124-115 over the host Pacers, but the teams the Nets may need to go through in pursuit of a championship all have players of Sabonis’ ilk.
Indiana’s All-Star finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, four steals and a block.
For the Sixers, it’s Joel Embiid. For the Bucks, it’s a two-piece combo: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez. For Miami, it’s Bam Adebayo. And for the Lakers, it’s Anthony Davis, and possibly LeBron James as a small-ball five.
If the Nets have their eyes on “the top of things,” Sabonis’ impact is an embodiment of their toughest defensive challenge.
It also could be an embodiment of Blake Griffin’s role.
Griffin is known for his high-flying dunks, but both age and a series of knee surgeries have slowed him down. He’s also known to be a playmaker, post scorer and playmaker, but while those are All-Star qualities, they would also leave him the fourth-best offensive option in the playoffs, when the Nets will have their five best players on the floor most of the minutes.
Griffin, however, has the size, strength, agility and IQ to give the Nets their best chance at stopping players like Sabonis. Harden is an above-average post defender but Sabonis will be the least of Brooklyn’s worries down the road when the games start to matter in the playoffs.
Whether they can defend that kind of player may not matter, as was evident after they completed a 16-point comeback. Harden is now 2-0 as an underdog this season in games without both Kyrie Irving (groin soreness) and Kevin Durant: He orchestrated a 24-point comeback against the Suns in Phoenix, and he turned in 40 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds and two steals to turn a 16-point deficit into a nine-point victory. He punctuated that comeback with a breakdown of Brogdon that extended Brooklyn’s lead to seven with 36 seconds to go -- and left Durant shaking his head in disbelief.
The Nets were able to get stops on Sabonis down the stretch, in one instance in the fourth quarter where Harden pulled the chair from under Sabonis, and Nicolas Claxton came over the top to block his attempt out of bounds. Claxton may also be an answer for players like Sabonis, as he proved helpful and played down the stretch as Brooklyn ultimately pulled away with a 19-4 fourth quarter run.
That run proved on most nights, a strong offense will compensate for a middling defense.
The Nets aren’t concerned with most nights. They’re concerned with the top of things, and those dominant inside players will have more help than the remaining Pacers gave Sabonis.
Luckily for Brooklyn, and unluckily for the rest of the league, the Nets are only “a couple of weeks” before Griffin and Durant are expected to be cleared to play.
