Flashback to January 2022 and the Brooklyn Nets found themselves scrambling to prevent a freefall in the standings amid a Kevin Durant knee injury. A year later, Durant is down with a similar injury, but new faces decorate Brooklyn's roster as the team looks for new means of production with their top player sidelined. Unlike last season, Kyrie Irving is playing on a full-time status and will lead the way without Durant. Outside of Irving, Ben Simmons headlines the list of new additions to a streaking Nets team.
While he hasn't returned to his All-Star form, Simmons has made a clear impact during Brooklyn's extended hot stretch using his defense, rebounding and passing in transition. However, that impact has not translated to the half-court offense, where Durant and Irving have set the league on fire as the Nets' go-to options.
Given Durant and Irving's explosion, Brooklyn hasn’t needed Simmons to score at a high level as of late. That's going to change as the team braces for life without one of the NBA's top scorers. Head coach Jacque Vaughn spoke after practice Wednesday about what the Nets will need from Simmons with Durant out.
“The next step is to play every possession with force, the beginning of a possession all the way to the end of it,” Vaughn said. “And so that becomes a habit that you consistently [do] from possession to possession and game to game. So the pace that he’s going to create for us, the easy shots that he has to create for us because of the pace, it’s a necessity. And [I'm] looking forward to it.”
Ben Simmons played his best basketball during a six-game stretch in November before being sidelined by a calf strain. The former No. 1 pick averaged 15.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists on 82.0 percent shooting during that span. Most importantly, he was taking 8.3 shots per game.
Those numbers have dipped since returning from the calf injury. Simmons is averaging 5.3 points on just 5.3 shots over his last seven appearances. Further, there is a noticeable declining trend in the big man's aggressiveness in the latter stages of games. Simmons is averaging 1.1 points on just 0.6 shot attempts in fourth quarters this season.
Vaughn expanded on what “playing with force” means, emphasizing the importance of sustaining that mentality down the stretch.
“So you take for example the beginning of the New Orleans game, Ben had three things,” he said. “First of all, he picked CJ McCollum up full court. So that’s the defensive force. Then you go to the offensive force. He gets the ball swung back to him, he drives [on Jonas] Valanciunas' right hand. That’s playing with force. He gets downhill, pushes the pace at [Trey] Murphy for a finish. That’s playing with force.”
You can see the plays Vaughn was referring to below:
Simmons has frequently opened games aggressively this season, but as is evident in his 0.6 shots per contest in fourth quarters, he has not maintained that mentality throughout. Vaughn put the onus on the three-time All-Star to sustain his assertiveness in crunch time with Durant out.
“That was the first six minutes of the game,” the head coach said. “Now can you do it at the 18-minute mark? The 24-minute mark? The 40-minute mark? So that’s the progression. [It’s] still the same thing and you’re seeing it, but can you consistently see it? Because we definitely need that with Kevin being out.”
The Nets will turn to Irving, Simmons and a collection of high-level role players to keep pace in the Eastern Conference without their top player. After winning 18 of their last 20, the best stretch in franchise history, Brooklyn stands alone in second place in the East, trailing only the Boston Celtics.
Ben Simmons and Co. will have an opportunity to make a statement Thursday as they play host to the league-leading Celtics in their first game of Durant's multi-week absence.
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