NEW YORK — Hours before tipoff of what would be the Nets’ most impressive victory of their early season — a 117-108 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday at Barclays Center — Joe Harris explained why his superteam, built on offensive firepower, has been so effective on the defensive end.
“Guys are making the second effort, you know, covering for one another,” said hot-hand Harris, who shot 6 of 8 from downtown and scored 18 points in a breakout game for his early season. “Not just surrendering and making it a one-on-one sort of game where it’s got to be all five guarding the ball. Guys have been talking on the back side, communicating and just giving that second effort to try and cover for one another.”
And it just might be the new identity of a team competing for a championship without all its championship pieces.
The Nets have been making multiple efforts on a single defensive possession. They have been stringing together stops like they string together buckets. And they have become a team not solely reliant on their superstars’ abilities to get buckets.
In the absence of one of the most gifted scorers in NBA history, the Nets have compensated for a lack of offensive firepower by stopping opponents from filling it up themselves.
Around this time last season (game Nos. 6 and 7), the Nets registered two of their worst early performances against the Hawks at Barclays Center. In the first game, they outshot the Hawks in a defense-optional, 144-141 finish. The following matchup, the Nets couldn’t generate the offense they were accustomed to, losing 114-96 to a Hawks team that had its coming-out party in Brooklyn.
It was different this time, when the Nets needed to get stops and needed a win before embarking on a six-game road trip, their longest of the season. With no Kyrie Irving (unvaccinated) and with a tentative James Harden — who had 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting Wednesday — the Nets found an offensive spark elsewhere.
By getting stops, then getting out in transition.
“We’re learning each other,” veteran forward Paul Millsap said. “We’re learning the schemes a little bit better. It’s like anything that it takes practice and it takes progress, and we feel like we’re heading in the right direction.”
Those stops didn’t come early Wednesday night. In fact, after taking a 35-28 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Nets lost the second period by five points. Just a two-point lead at the half against a Hawks team fresh off a Cinderella playoff run all the way to the Eastern Conference finals.
The Nets flexed their defensive muscles, however, in the third quarter, holding the high-powered Hawks to just 20 points. Head coach Steve Nash subbed Patty Mills and DeAndre’ Bembry in for Harden and Harris, sparking a heavy defensive effort.
Meanwhile, Kevin Durant scored 15 points in the third quarter and 32 points total on 13-of-20 shooting from the field. Mills scored 14 points off the bench and LaMarcus Aldridge added another 10, but the Nets don’t need to score 144 points to win games.
Not if they’re playing defense. Not if they’re making the second effort. Not if they’re making the extra pass or playing connected on both ends. The Nets have strung together a series of impressive performances, and history favors those who commit to getting stops.
If this defense is a trend the Nets can hold for the long haul, they may have something to build on.
