Nets' rebounding must bounce back to pre-road trip levels
Golden State guard Moses Moody (4) shoots against Nets center Day'Ron Sharpe, top, and guard Cam Thomas (24) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. Credit: AP/Jeff Chiu
Home can’t come soon enough for the Nets, who returned to Brooklyn Tuesday weary and ragged after three straight losses and a 1-4 road trip.
The final game of this trek highlighted newer issues and featured reminders of older ones. Cam Thomas scored at will in another loss and the Nets returned to giving up threes at the wrong time.
But the biggest concern? Rebounding. A strength all season is now a weakness as the Jazz dominated the boards and turned them into transition points during the Nets’ 125-108 loss Monday.
The Nets still lead the NBA in rebounds, but over the last five games they’ve averaged 41.6 - 22nd) in the league over that span. They had a season-low 36 rebounds in two of the games, including against the Jazz.
“Just effort, especially on my end,” said Mikal Bridges, who had one rebound against the Jazz and none against the Nuggets last Thursday. “You’ve just got to go, just go in there and get it. No matter how tired you are, you just got to go get it.”
Fatigue was evident Monday night. Bridges shot 4-for-16 against Utah and only 35.6% on the trip. Cam Johnson had a season-low seven points and shot 40.7% on the trip. Dorian Finney-Smith was 2-for-5 on threes but shot just 5-for-14 behind the arc over the last five games.
The Nets need rest, for sure. But they need to rediscover what made them a great rebounding team. That's the committee approach, where everyone was responsible for crashing the glass, not just bigs Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe.
That effort was missing on the road trip and it led to a bad loss against a 10-17 Jazz team that will be happy if it reaches the play-in tournament.
“There's a toughness piece that we got to continue to lean into and it's different areas of the game,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “It’s pick-and-roll, it’s rebounding, it’s the toughness to not get offensive rebounds and sprint back and not give up a corner three.”
As Vaughn said, losing the rebounding battle is affecting other areas. The Nets allowed an average of 18.6 fast-break points over the last five games, second worst in the league and more than their 14.2 average this season.
Giving up rebounds means giving up transition opportunities. Not defending in transition means easy three-point chances, something the Nets struggled with during their previous three-game losing streak in November.
It won’t get easier with five games in eight days starting Wednesday at Barclays Center against the Knicks, who will surely be going to the boards after getting 52 rebounds in their win over the Lakers Monday. The Nets also have a rematch with the Nuggets Friday.
The Nets need rest and healthy bodies. There’s no indication yet when Dennis Smith Jr. or Lonnie Walker will return from injuries, but they’ll be reevaluated as the Nets settle back home.
With or without them, they need better rebounding effort. Bridges singled himself out for not doing more to help Claxton on the glass, but collectively, the Nets need to take ownership and fix a liability that was once a strength.
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
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