For a lot of their N.B.A. play-in sport in opposition to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night time, the Nets appeared just like the fearsome workforce that many observers had lengthy mentioned lay hidden behind their mediocre report. Kevin Durant was magnificent. Kyrie Irving didn’t miss a shot till the fourth quarter. A number of teammates made vital contributions properly above what was normally anticipated of them.
And but, the sport nonetheless got here all the way down to the ultimate minutes after Cleveland, which had trailed by 20 factors after the primary quarter after which by 22 within the third, lower its deficit to six with a simply over a minute left.
The job obtained executed in the long run: The Nets pulled out a 115-108 victory to assert the No. 7 seed within the Jap Convention, and a matchup with the Boston Celtics within the first spherical. However the sport was the most recent instance of a Nets efficiency that could possibly be quantified as a head-scratching combine world-beating expertise and worrisome lethargy.
For the glass-half-full crowd, the Nets stars Irving and Durant mixed for 59 factors on 31 pictures whereas handing out 23 assists, one other stat-sheet-filling show from one of the proficient tandems within the N.B.A. It was, once more, a tantalizing glimpse into what their partnership could possibly be at its peak — a summit that has been a uncommon sighting of their time collectively in Brooklyn.
But it surely wasn’t simply them. Bruce Brown, the workforce’s consummate position participant, had 18 factors, 9 rebounds and eight assists, typically providing himself as an important launch valve on offense when Durant and Irving would get blitzed by defenders. Andre Drummond punished Cleveland on the boards, scoring 16 factors and grabbing 8 rebounds in solely 19 minutes. Nic Claxton, the spry reserve heart, added 13 factors, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks off the bench.
However the glass-half-empty set had proof, too, after the Nets practically blew one more lead down the stretch in opposition to a lesser workforce. On Sunday at residence in opposition to the Indiana Pacers, one of many worst groups within the N.B.A., the Nets endured an identical ending that turned uncomfortably shut. Within the sport earlier than that — additionally in opposition to Cleveland — the Nets blew a double digit third-quarter lead. Earlier than that was a sport in opposition to the Knicks, one other much less proficient workforce enjoying out the string; the Nets trailed by 21 factors within the first half that point.
All three of these video games required fourth-quarter rallies to win, however all three repeated a sample that has performed out for a lot of the season: The Nets, whereas supremely proficient in a few spots, are a squad that struggles to place collectively wire-to-wire performances. And within the playoffs, in opposition to one of the best groups within the league, which may be their Achilles’ heel.
“That’s part of our journey too,” Nets Coach Steve Nash mentioned Tuesday of looking for a approach to change his workforce’s penchant for flirting with catastrophe. “It’s not simply go on the market and construct 20-point leads. Flip it into 30.”
Within the opening sport of their first-round collection on Sunday, the Nets will journey to Boston and discover a Celtics squad that isn’t the identical workforce the Nets simply dispatched final season. And, due to the Nets’ Brown, the Celtics now may have some bulletin board materials as motivation.
Requested concerning the Celtics on Tuesday, Brown urged the absence of Robert Williams III, Boston’s beginning heart and one of many league’s finest defenders, would imply that “they’ve much less of a presence within the paint.”
The feedback didn’t sit properly with Durant, who dismissed them as “caffeine delight speaking.” Brown had mentioned that, with Williams out, the Nets “might assault” Boston’s Al Horford and Daniel Theis.” referring to Horford and Daniel Theis, who spherical out the Celtics huge man rotation. Durant grimaced and famous, “Them two dudes can do the identical stuff.”
Durant’s health is one other lingering concern for the Nets getting into the Celtics collection. Simply stepping into the play-in match required a heavy workload for Durant, who performed 42 minutes on Tuesday night time. For the reason that All-Star break, Durant has averaged 38.6 minutes a sport. Whereas different stars across the league had been in a position to handle their minutes — and save their legs — throughout the stretch run, the 33-year-old Durant needed to expend extra power than standard simply to pull his workforce into the playoffs.
A method or one other, the Nets will enter the playoffs a lot as they did final season: With excessive expectations and little time collectively. Final 12 months, that was a results of accidents and a commerce for James Harden. This 12 months, it’s a results of accidents and the choice to commerce Harden away (to not point out Irving’s prolonged absence over his refusal to be vaccinated in opposition to the coronavirus).
“We’re simply such a brand new group,” Nash mentioned. “I feel that was just like the seventh sport these 9 gamers tonight have performed collectively. So every single day is a day for us to study ourselves.”
All season, although, the Nets have guess that expertise trumps cohesion. It’s why they shuffled gamers out and in of the rotation with frequency, why they had been keen to commerce Harden. Tuesday night time’s victory confirmed a tease of the championship potential within the group.
Within the first three quarters, anyway.
