SAN ANTONIO – Here are my three thoughts on the Nets’ 113-92 loss to the Spurs in San Antonio Tuesday night:
1. Look, there are about a million things you can point to right now as being wrong with the Nets. But one thing that is unquestionably true is that with the current state of the team’s roster – specifically without Brook Lopez for the rest of the season – the Nets need more from Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.
Both players didn’t do much Tuesday, combining for nine points on 8-for-19 shooting, with Williams also having six assists. But given that Williams and Johnson are considered by many around the NBA to be amongst the league’s top backcourts – if not its best – given everything else that’s happening around them the Nets desperately need the two of them to play that way on a consistent basis moving forward.
If they don’t, it’s hard to see any way for this Nets team to begin to turn things around, given the massive problems that are going on around them.
2. After Nets coach Jason Kidd inserted Mirza Teletovic into the starting lineup following Lopez’s season-ending fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot, he was asked about the struggles of his new starting big combination of Teletovic and Garnett inside, and chalked it up to a small sample size.
Well, through 31 games for the Nets this season, Teletovic is shooting 21-for-43 (48.8 percent) from shots at or near the rim, while Garnett is 22-for-53 (41.5 percent). Lopez, on the other hand, was already at 87-for-144 (60.4 percent) when he went down.
That 60 percent clip Lopez was shooting at, and shooting in tons of attempts, is right around league average for shots at the rim. That lack of an inside presence – especially with Andray Blatche also currently away from the team – is something the Nets are going to have to figure out a way to work around as the season progresses.
3. Even in just a brief stint during Tuesday’s game, you could see the impact Andrei Kirilenko can have on this team while on the court. On his first offensive touch in six weeks, he hit Deron Williams cutting on the baseline with a perfect pass for an easy layup, as well as getting on the floor for loose balls and allowing the Nets to have a lot of different options in terms of the style and kind of lineups they can play because of Kirilenko’s versatility.
Adding Kirilenko certainly isn’t going to solve all of the Nets’ problems – at this point, adding LeBron James might not be able to do that. But if he can stay on the court and no longer have any issues with his recurring case back spasms, he would give the Nets an added dimension at both ends of the floor. And, given their current situation, anything that can start to get this team turned around in any way is a welcome addition.