Nets' schedule will put their conditioning to the test

The Nets’ plan to be a better conditioned team under coach Jordi Fernandez is about to get tested starting Tuesday.

When they host the Nuggets, it starts a stretch of five games in seven days with four coming at Barclays Center. There’s two back-to-back games thrown in, with the Nets going to the Grizzlies Wednesday.

The remaining three games are hosting the Bulls Friday, the Pistons Sunday and the Grizzlies again Monday. For a Nets team that’s committed to playing aggressively and defending full-court, it’ll be the toughest ask of the season so far.

“Obviously, the harder you play, it's hard to sustain that for a lot of minutes,” Fernandez said after the Nets’ practice last week. “But again, I'm happy with what I've seen. I'm still going to demand more, because we're going to play really hard defensively.

“Physically, our ball pressure, we want it to be part of our identity defensively and then offensively. I'm still asking you to [apply] pressure on defense.”

It’s had mixed results so far. Sunday’s win showed the potential of the Nets' approach by forcing 19 turnovers, creating 21 second chance points and stifling the Bucks during a 16-2 fourth quarter run.

But in the first two games, the Nets’ style had them out of gas in the second half. They committed turnovers and fouled often, both signs of low stamina as much as poor technique.

So for the Nets, it’s continuing to balance their hard-playing style with being mentally sharp. It won’t be easy against the Nuggets, who won the 2022 championship, or the Grizzlies, who’ve been among the league’s fastest-paced teams since 2021.

The Bulls also currently lead the league in the pace as of Wednesday. So the Nets have to hope their play and their defense carries over this week from Sunday, especially after halftime.

There’s always the risk the Nets are susceptible to more fouls while trying to attack more on defense. It’s one that Fernandez is willing to take and his players agree.

“We need to be the aggressor,” Dennis Schroder said after losing to the Magic. “We need to dictate how we play, or how we want to play, how we want the other team to play, and that's how we're going to win games. If we don't do that, it's going to be a tough year. But I think we're capable, more than capable, to do that, and we’re getting there.”

Sunday showed improving signs to build on. The Nets have figured out a potent lineup combination having Nic Claxton, Noah Clowney and Ziaire Williams on the court as a trio of stout, lanky defenders. Schroder’s 29 points on Sunday were just as vital as Cam Thomas’ 32.

Factors like that will help the Nets as their conditioning gets stretched the next seven days. The Nets certainly can play as hard as Fernandez demands.

If they play more like Sunday leading with defense and a balanced offense, it can make this taxing stretch a bit easier to handle.

“Our defense was really just our catalyst, and that's how we got to play,” Claxton said about the Bucks’ win. "We got to do that. We got to pick up full court. We got to make the games . . . nasty.”

Simmons to sit one game of back-to-backs “for now”

Ben Simmons was out Tuesday because of injury management for his lower back. With the Nets starting their first back-to-back, it reflects what the Nets have done previously when managing Simmons’ recovery.

Fernandez said that will continue for the immediate future. Simmons will be available Wednesday at the Grizzlies and will play “good minutes” in line with his current average of 24 through the first three games of the season.

“The plan is, for now, not to play in back-to-backs until we get a different update,” Fernandez said before Tuesday's game. "And right now he's missing the front of the back-to-back.”

Simmons had back surgery in March, his second in three years, and has not played both ends of a back-to-back since Jan. 25-26, 2023.

Coaching reunion

Tuesday is Fernandez’s first game as head coach against Denver, where he spent six seasons as an assistant (2016-22) under current coach Michael Malone.

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.