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Mikal Bridges set the tone for the new-look Brooklyn Nets following a career-best 45-point performance early in his Brooklyn tenure.
“Defense always comes first,” he said despite his offensive explosion. “That’s just who I am. I just think defense wins championships.”
That appeared to be the winning formula for the Nets upon their acquisitions of Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith, Cam Johnson and Spencer Dinwiddie. Those four immediately slotted into Brooklyn's starting five alongside Defensive Player of the Year candidate Nic Claxton, giving the unit an average height of 6’8″ and an average wingspan of 7’0″.
To the surprise of many, the revamped roster struggled defensively early on. They've since turned up the intensity on that end, something that has been evident during a recent 4-1 stretch. Brooklyn ranks 12th in the NBA in defensive rating (113.6) over the last five while limiting opponents to 110 points per game on 46.7 percent shooting from the field and 29.1 from 3-point range.
The Nets' ability to slow down their opposition's top offensive option has been the main factor in that success. They held Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler to 34 combined points (14-of-27 FG), Jalen Green to 14 points (5-of-13 FG), Trae Young to 10 points (3-of-12 FG) and, most recently, Lauri Markkanen to 23 points (8-of-21 FG).
Active hands lead to good results pic.twitter.com/y19fy6tH6x
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) April 1, 2023
Head coach Jacque Vaughn detailed Brooklyn's thought process following his team's win Sunday.
“You know going into the game that No. 1 dude, he knows how to score. He's done it before probably and he can probably continue to do it again,” Vaughn said of Markkanen. “I take a little bit of a football aspect is you're not gonna be able to stop the run and the pass… If a secondary guy has a good game then we have to live with some of the consequences.
“Over the course of the game, there's some dudes who are built to make shots. Some aren't. Those dudes who bring it every night, they can bring it every night; so we want to get that ball out of their hands.”
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The Nets have found success living with those consequences. Tyler Herro and Max Strus poured in 23 apiece for Miami, Kevin Porter Jr. had 31 for Houston, Dejounte Murray scored 21 for Atlanta, and Talen Horton-Tucker poured in 32 for Utah. All four of those games were Brooklyn wins, with the opposition's offense stalling down the stretch in three of them.
“We're hoping that it tries to make those other guys make plays that they aren't used to making,” Vaughn said of the strategy's effect. “And then you ask: can they make those plays over and over again? Maybe one off they can, but are they built to do that thing over and over again from the first quarter to the fourth quarter?”
Defense ➡️ Offense pic.twitter.com/CjZ4KDfhoI
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 30, 2023
Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn's point guard and oldest member of the starting five at 29 years old, emphasized his head coach's message when speaking on the team's defensive mindset.
“I think ideally we want to try to get the ball out of the hands of guys who are designed to make plays,” Dinwiddie said Sunday. “You want to do a good job on the first and second option, but (Kelly) Olynyk, (Juan) Toscano-Anderson (Kris) Dunn, (Simone) Fontecchio, you want them beating you.”
The Nets will face a high-powered offensive duo in Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday. Brooklyn needs two wins in the last four games to lock up the Eastern Conference's sixth seed.
