The defense wasn’t an issue: The Nets held the Warriors to less than 100 points.
The offense was superb: With so many weapons, it can run itself seamlessly
If that is the standard the Nets will hold for the entirety of the 2020-21 NBA season -- a stingy defense and supercharged offense -- it’s hard to see them losing too many games. The Nets have started their season full of championship aspirations on as high a note as possible, blasting the Warriors in a 125-99 rout at home on Tuesday.
Brooklyn made Steve Kerr’s nightmare come true. Kerr coached a Golden State superteam that broke basketball to the tune of back-to-back NBA championships in 2017 and 2018.
The league’s newest super team just gave him a dose of karma during a short trip to Brooklyn.
“I probably deserve this given that I was coaching a team like that for five years,” Kerr said preemptively on Monday. “So it’s probably about time I have to face this where you’ve got all these weapons, all these players who can hurt you. Obviously Kevin and Kyrie, but so many of their support players are capable of having huge nights.”
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving surely played their part, and Irving deserved the game ball. The man who insisted his game would do the talking for him this season just spoke louder than anything he’s said that has gone viral in recent years.
Irving dazzled to the tune of 26 points in 25 minutes. He hit a bomb from the ‘BARCLAYS CENTER’ text just inside the halfcourt line to give the Nets a 63-45 lead entering the half. Irving looked like the best point guard on the floor, playing against one of the best point guards of all time. Stephen Curry finished with 20 points on 7-of-21 shooting to go with 10 assists on the night.
The Warriors would have been more formidable an opponent had Draymond Green (foot) been active. This also would have been a completely different game if Klay Thompson (Achilles) wasn’t out for the season.
But this isn’t a video game where you can turn injuries off. The Nets took advantage of the Warriors’ shortcomings, with no player who could realistically stop their best players from scoring.
Durant finished with 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field. He scored 10 points inside the game’s first five minutes.
Caris LeVert also played in his first real game as Brooklyn’s sixth man. He embraced the role beautifully and still spent time on the floor with both Durant and Irving. LeVert recorded 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals off the bench, embodying the Manu Ginobili-like role Steve Nash designed for him.
The Nets exploded for 40 first-quarter points and never looked back. The defense swarmed Warriors perimeter players and forced them to attack Durant, DeAndre Jordan or Jarrett Allen at the rim, each of whom recorded at least one block and altered more shots in the paint.
“We know what we’re in for in terms of a team that is capable of exploding like they did against Boston the other night,” Kerr said. “The only thing you can do is try to lock-in on your keys and take away the easy stuff: not give them transition buckets where they get behind the play, where you’re just giving up something without even a fight. You’ve got to be ready to battle every possession and make things difficult.”
The Warriors aren’t the best challenge for this Nets team. They have more moving parts than the Nets and will be a different animal once fully healthy. But a win is a win, and this win was convincing. The Nets are here, they’re healthy, and they’re ready for prime time.
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EMPTY THE BENCH
Nash said he wanted to play 10 players in the opener, but once the game was out of control, there was no sense keeping the starters and key role players on the floor.
The game was out of Golden State’s grasp once the Nets hung 40 in the first quarter, but it was truly over at the 3:02 mark in the third quarter when Nash sent Durant and Irving to the bench with a 33-point lead.
Nets rookie Reggie Perry logged his first regular-season minutes and scored his first points.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot came off the bench late, but is a strong candidate for the 11th man spot on the roster.
A rare Rodions Kurucs sighting: The third-year forward made an appearance in garbage time, flaring to the corner to splash a contested three with just under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
