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The 9-6 Cavaliers touch down in Brooklyn for a game against the 10-5 Nets, winners of 8 of their last 10 games. However, all eight wins came against teams with losing records. In fact, the combined record is 32-68, so the Nets were feasting on soft opponents. They lost by 23 to the first place Bulls and 18 last night to the Warriors. That’s 8-0 against losers and 0-2 against winners.
Last night the Nets got trashed at home by the Dubs, who led by 22 after three quarters. Steph Curry lit them up for 37 points in 29 minutes. Durant was 6-for-19, Blake Griffin 0-for-4, and nobody off the bench had more than 8 points. The W’s had 98 points by the end of the 3rd quarter and the 4th was garbage time.
I don’t know how good the Nets are. Last night they were missing their starting guards, Kyrie Irving (who hasn’t played this year) and Joe Harris, who has a sprained ankle and is out tonight. They’ve hammered bad teams but lost decisively to Golden State, Chicago, Miami, Milwaukee, and even Charlotte.
I also don’t know how good the Cavs will be without Allen, Mobley, Markkanen, and Sexton. That’s their three best big men and their leading scorer. On paper they shouldn’t be able to beat anybody. I saw a report that Kevin Love may play tonight. If he does I think it will only be for a few minutes and he won't be a factor.
The Nets will be playing the second game of a back-to-back but there was no travel involved and nobody played too many minutes since the outcome was decided by the end of the 3rd, so they should be fine.
Last year the Cavs shocked the NBA by beating the Nets back-to-back at home, 147-135 in double OT, and 125-113. Sexton had 42 points in the first game and 25 in the second. The Cavs were 20-for-40 on 3’s in the first game. Durant sat out the second.
This year is kind of similar in that these teams play tonight in Brooklyn and Monday in Cleveland, but there are a couple of games in between.
The Nets have to be the oldest team in the NBA. With Harris, age 30, out their starting lineup will be Durant (33), Patty Mills (33), Harden (32), Blake Griffin (32), and Bruce Brown (25). LeMarcus Aldridge averages 21 minutes off the bench at age 36. Kevin Love would fit right in with this group. I wonder if they have another Jarrett Allen on their bench?
The Nets are average offensively at 108.5 ppg. They are 30th in points in the paint. These old guys don’t like to attack the rim; they’d rather shoot jumpers. They rank 6th in percentage of points on 3’s and 26th in percentage of points on 2’s. They like to jack up 3’s and nobody is better. They’re first in the league in 3-point percentage at 39.3%.
They use their experience to draw a lot of fouls, ranking 8th in free throws per possession despite all the outside shooting. Harden and Durant know how to draw fouls and I’m sure the refs give them the close ones. The Nets are last in offensive rebound percentage - those geriatrics don’t have the energy to try and fight their way into position for a put-back. They take the shot and fall back on D. The key is to make them miss the first one without fouling.
They’re average in turnovers and 4th in assists. They pass the ball around until somebody has an open shot.
Joe Harris is hitting 46.4% of his 3’s so his absence will hurt. However, his replacement in the starting lineup, Patty Mills, is hitting 48.1% from deep.
Defensively the Nets are very good, ranking 8th in points per game. They defend the 3 very well, ranking 3rd in opponents’ 3-point percentage. But they are 27th in 2-point percentage so the Cavs might be well advised to take it to the rim.
The biggest defensive weakness is steals per possession, where they rank 30th. These old fellas don’t have the energy to try and steal the ball. From the numbers it appears they focus on stopping 3-point shots and are willing to accept some 2’s. Their defensive rebounding, block percentage, and fouls per play are a little above average.
Kevin Durant is having another magnificent season with a line of 29.6/8.4/5.1. Durant is shooting a scalding 58.6% from the field and 42.4% on 3’s. The W’s bottled him up last night, though.
James Harden has a line of 19.5/7.6/9.3, shooting 42.6% and 39.3%. Not up to his standards, but he has been hot lately against bad teams.
Blake Griffin is averaging only 6.1 ppg in 23 minutes. He’s shooting an abysmal 32.6% and 18.0%.
Bruce Brown, the only under 30 guy who sees minutes, averages 7.4 points in 26 minutes. Aldridge is getting 12.8 points in 21 minutes.
The Athletic Power Poll for this week has the Nets 2nd behind only the Warriors, but after last night’s game they should drop a couple of spots. Here is their writeup:
Brooklyn Nets (Previously 3rd), 10-4, +4.7 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss at Bulls, Win at Magic, Win at Pelicans, Win at Thunder
How did the chaos hit the Brooklyn Nets? The Brooklyn Nets had to deal with the James Harden powers zap fiasco and, of course, there is the Kyrie Irving situation. It was so bad to start this season that the Nets were one of the worst offenses in the NBA. They’ve now climbed to pretty middle of the road, but they’re also one of the worst fourth-quarter offenses in the league. That’s not what you expect out of them. Harden has gotten going too. First five games of the season, he averaged 16.6 points on 35.9 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from deep with 8.0 assists and 7.0 rebounds each game. In this recent nine-game stretch, Harden has averaged 21.1 points on 47.0 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from deep with 10.0 assists and 8.0 rebounds each game.
Why is the team here this week? I know they lost to Chicago and then beat three bad teams, but I feel comfortable Harden has figured things out. They’ve won eight of their last nine, and this team looks elite again. The Nets look like they’ve corrected a lot of what their issues were to start the season. Kevin Durant kept them afloat and everything else (outside of Kyrie) is falling into place.
I’m not sure I see a path to victory for the Cavs tonight, but I sure didn’t see one last year and they beat the Nets back-to-back, although those games were in Cleveland. On the one hand the Nets probably won’t take the Cavs seriously with four starters out. On the other hand, the Nets haven’t beaten a team with a winning record in over three weeks. However, this is not exactly the Cavs’ team that has gone 9-6. Without Mobley and the rest it’s hard to say where they are at, except they played the Celtics tough two nights ago.
I would love to see the Cavs take on these guys with all the Cavs players available. Maybe when we play them in January and April at our house.
I assume the Nets will be in a foul mood after getting their asses kicked on national TV last night. They will want to take it out on the Cavs, who will have to play a small ball lineup with all their bigs out except Wade and Fall. I assume Okoro will guard Harden and Wade will guard Durant. That would put Cedi on Griffin. That should be interesting.
Patty Mills, 6’1”, is 33 years old and played 32 minutes last night. If he starts again tonight Garland needs to win that matchup big time.
Last night the Nets got trashed at home by the Dubs, who led by 22 after three quarters. Steph Curry lit them up for 37 points in 29 minutes. Durant was 6-for-19, Blake Griffin 0-for-4, and nobody off the bench had more than 8 points. The W’s had 98 points by the end of the 3rd quarter and the 4th was garbage time.
I don’t know how good the Nets are. Last night they were missing their starting guards, Kyrie Irving (who hasn’t played this year) and Joe Harris, who has a sprained ankle and is out tonight. They’ve hammered bad teams but lost decisively to Golden State, Chicago, Miami, Milwaukee, and even Charlotte.
I also don’t know how good the Cavs will be without Allen, Mobley, Markkanen, and Sexton. That’s their three best big men and their leading scorer. On paper they shouldn’t be able to beat anybody. I saw a report that Kevin Love may play tonight. If he does I think it will only be for a few minutes and he won't be a factor.
The Nets will be playing the second game of a back-to-back but there was no travel involved and nobody played too many minutes since the outcome was decided by the end of the 3rd, so they should be fine.
Last year the Cavs shocked the NBA by beating the Nets back-to-back at home, 147-135 in double OT, and 125-113. Sexton had 42 points in the first game and 25 in the second. The Cavs were 20-for-40 on 3’s in the first game. Durant sat out the second.
This year is kind of similar in that these teams play tonight in Brooklyn and Monday in Cleveland, but there are a couple of games in between.
The Nets have to be the oldest team in the NBA. With Harris, age 30, out their starting lineup will be Durant (33), Patty Mills (33), Harden (32), Blake Griffin (32), and Bruce Brown (25). LeMarcus Aldridge averages 21 minutes off the bench at age 36. Kevin Love would fit right in with this group. I wonder if they have another Jarrett Allen on their bench?
The Nets are average offensively at 108.5 ppg. They are 30th in points in the paint. These old guys don’t like to attack the rim; they’d rather shoot jumpers. They rank 6th in percentage of points on 3’s and 26th in percentage of points on 2’s. They like to jack up 3’s and nobody is better. They’re first in the league in 3-point percentage at 39.3%.
They use their experience to draw a lot of fouls, ranking 8th in free throws per possession despite all the outside shooting. Harden and Durant know how to draw fouls and I’m sure the refs give them the close ones. The Nets are last in offensive rebound percentage - those geriatrics don’t have the energy to try and fight their way into position for a put-back. They take the shot and fall back on D. The key is to make them miss the first one without fouling.
They’re average in turnovers and 4th in assists. They pass the ball around until somebody has an open shot.
Joe Harris is hitting 46.4% of his 3’s so his absence will hurt. However, his replacement in the starting lineup, Patty Mills, is hitting 48.1% from deep.
Defensively the Nets are very good, ranking 8th in points per game. They defend the 3 very well, ranking 3rd in opponents’ 3-point percentage. But they are 27th in 2-point percentage so the Cavs might be well advised to take it to the rim.
The biggest defensive weakness is steals per possession, where they rank 30th. These old fellas don’t have the energy to try and steal the ball. From the numbers it appears they focus on stopping 3-point shots and are willing to accept some 2’s. Their defensive rebounding, block percentage, and fouls per play are a little above average.
Kevin Durant is having another magnificent season with a line of 29.6/8.4/5.1. Durant is shooting a scalding 58.6% from the field and 42.4% on 3’s. The W’s bottled him up last night, though.
James Harden has a line of 19.5/7.6/9.3, shooting 42.6% and 39.3%. Not up to his standards, but he has been hot lately against bad teams.
Blake Griffin is averaging only 6.1 ppg in 23 minutes. He’s shooting an abysmal 32.6% and 18.0%.
Bruce Brown, the only under 30 guy who sees minutes, averages 7.4 points in 26 minutes. Aldridge is getting 12.8 points in 21 minutes.
The Athletic Power Poll for this week has the Nets 2nd behind only the Warriors, but after last night’s game they should drop a couple of spots. Here is their writeup:
Brooklyn Nets (Previously 3rd), 10-4, +4.7 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss at Bulls, Win at Magic, Win at Pelicans, Win at Thunder
How did the chaos hit the Brooklyn Nets? The Brooklyn Nets had to deal with the James Harden powers zap fiasco and, of course, there is the Kyrie Irving situation. It was so bad to start this season that the Nets were one of the worst offenses in the NBA. They’ve now climbed to pretty middle of the road, but they’re also one of the worst fourth-quarter offenses in the league. That’s not what you expect out of them. Harden has gotten going too. First five games of the season, he averaged 16.6 points on 35.9 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from deep with 8.0 assists and 7.0 rebounds each game. In this recent nine-game stretch, Harden has averaged 21.1 points on 47.0 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from deep with 10.0 assists and 8.0 rebounds each game.
Why is the team here this week? I know they lost to Chicago and then beat three bad teams, but I feel comfortable Harden has figured things out. They’ve won eight of their last nine, and this team looks elite again. The Nets look like they’ve corrected a lot of what their issues were to start the season. Kevin Durant kept them afloat and everything else (outside of Kyrie) is falling into place.
I’m not sure I see a path to victory for the Cavs tonight, but I sure didn’t see one last year and they beat the Nets back-to-back, although those games were in Cleveland. On the one hand the Nets probably won’t take the Cavs seriously with four starters out. On the other hand, the Nets haven’t beaten a team with a winning record in over three weeks. However, this is not exactly the Cavs’ team that has gone 9-6. Without Mobley and the rest it’s hard to say where they are at, except they played the Celtics tough two nights ago.
I would love to see the Cavs take on these guys with all the Cavs players available. Maybe when we play them in January and April at our house.
I assume the Nets will be in a foul mood after getting their asses kicked on national TV last night. They will want to take it out on the Cavs, who will have to play a small ball lineup with all their bigs out except Wade and Fall. I assume Okoro will guard Harden and Wade will guard Durant. That would put Cedi on Griffin. That should be interesting.
Patty Mills, 6’1”, is 33 years old and played 32 minutes last night. If he starts again tonight Garland needs to win that matchup big time.
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