The Brooklyn Nets suffered a blowout loss to the league-best Utah Jazz on Wednesday and it was largely because the Nets were missing all three of their superstars in Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving due to respective injuries. This resulted in Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash experimenting with his shorthanded lineup — something that did not exactly end well for the Nets.
At one point, Nash played three Nets big men at one time in DeAndre Jordan, Nicolas Claxton, and Reggie Perry — all at the same time. As expected, it did not turn out well. By his own admission, coach Nash himself said that this “Big 3” combination is something he won't be turning to again in the future (h/t Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News):
Steve Nash on playing Perry-Claxton-Jordan together against the Jazz: "Let's say we probably won't see that again."
Nash said it was mostly a byproduct of having fewer bodies available.
— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) March 26, 2021
The Jazz cruised to victory against an extremely shorthanded Nets team who were also missing Blake Griffin and Landry Shamet on Wednesday. Spencer Dinwiddie, of course, still remains out for the season. Nash had to field a starting five of Tyler Johnson, Bruce Brown, Joe Harris, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and Jeff Green. It wasn't actually surprising at all that the Nets fell 118-88 against the mighty Jazz.
Brooklyn is in action again on Friday. The good news is that James Harden and Blake Griffin will be available to play for their tilt against the Detroit Pistons — a homecoming of sorts for Griffin.
Irving, however, did not join the team for their three-game road trip as he attends to personal family matters. The Nets will still be shorthanded, but at least they have a former league MVP in Harden to carry them against the Pistons.
Follow Us
Subscribe