Nets' offense crumbling brick by brick
Nets forwards Mikal Bridges (#1), Cameron Johnson (#2) and Dorian Finney-Smith (#28) and guard Cam Thomas (#24) wait for play to resume during the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves Saturday in Minneapolis. Credit: AP / Abbie Parr
Kevin Ollie tried to put a positive spin on the Nets’ latest defeat by double digits Saturday. The execution wasn’t bad, the interim coach said. It was just not enough shot-making.
The Nets, however, still left Target Center hanging their heads with a four-game losing streak. A 15-point defeat to the Timberwolves, who own the Western Conference’s best record, is one thing. To lose by 15 in a game where you attempted 20 more shots is another troubling sign.
“We were physical the whole game. We hunted,” Ollie said. “I thought we did a great job coming together as a team and facing adversity throughout the game. We’ve got to make shots. Six-for-[35 on threes] is going to beat you every time.”
The Nets had more than enough good looks but shot 33.7%, worse than the 41.3% they shot in Thursday’s loss at Toronto. Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas combined to shoot 14-for-40 from the field in the two games.
But the issues weren’t just Bridges and Thomas. It was a supporting cast that didn’t make its presence felt for the second straight game since Ollie took over. With 20 assists Saturday after only 19 Thursday, the Nets had two of their three fewest assist totals this season.
All of it comes back to missing shots for an offense that’s been weighing the team down most of the year. Learning new sets under Ollie further adds to the problem. It's just one more concern on top of multiple ones.
“Coach has been making it simple for us,” Dorian Finney-Smith said Saturday. “He’s trying not to change the wheel because we’ve been playing a certain way for a while now. So he made it simple for us. I don't think it's the sets, we’re just not making shots. We got to figure it out.”
Over the last three games, the Nets have scored 86, 93 and 86 points. The 86 points against the Celtics and Timberwolves are the second fewest they’ve scored this season.
Yes, those are two of the NBA’s best teams and defenses. But the Nets are mired in one of their deepest ruts of the season, going 1-7 over their last eight games.
In that span, they’re the league’s worst team in points per game (99.8), offensive efficiency (101.9) and shooting (42.5%). As for three-point shooting, they’re 26th out of 30 teams (34.8%).
Bridges is averaging 19.3 points and Thomas 18.0 over those eight games. The next closest Net? Nic Claxton at 10.5 points. Cam Johnson and Finney-Smith missed some time with injuries, but they’re averaging only 8.3 and 4.8 points.
The Nets, as constructed, lack enough shot creators and if teams focus on Bridges and Thomas, they can dare other players to beat them. Right now, they haven’t and it’s going to take a collective solution — not just one player — to fix the offense as they hope shots start falling.
"I just told them keep believing,” Ollie said. “We get those looks over this period of time these next games, we will win. We’ve just got to understand that process.”
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
