Here are my three thoughts on the Nets’ 110-103 loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles Saturday night:
1. With Deron Williams, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Brook Lopez all sitting with various injuries, this game presented several players with an opportunity to get some playing time and show what they can do. It also presented others, like Andray Blatche, with the chance to have an expanded role in the game plan for a night, and Blatche took advantage of it.
The Nets’ top reserve big thrived in a starting role Saturday night, scoring 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting to go along with eight rebounds in the kind of performance Blatche really needed to get himself going.
“It felt good,” Blatche said. “The shot felt good. The confidence was there. I just took it. If I had a shot, I took it. I tried to be aggressive, drive to the hole.”
As part of their plan to limit Garnett’s minutes this season, the Nets planned on playing Blatche a lot of minutes behind him. But over the first couple weeks of the season, Blatche has mostly struggled, entering Saturday night’s game shooting 20-for-53 (37.7 percent) from the floor.
That’s why Saturday’s game could be an important one moving forward for the Nets if it allows Blatche to begin getting his confidence back in his shot and playing like the guy who averaged 10 points in less than 20 minutes a night last season.
“It definitely gave me the confidence again,” he said. “I’m happy it was falling, and I needed it.”
2. While there will understandably be many plaudits heading Mason Plumlee’s way after yet another impressive performance from the rookie big man, Tyshawn Taylor also took advantage of his chance at extended playing time with Williams sitting out. Playing whenever Shaun Livingston was getting a break, Taylor finished with 10 points, four assists and three steals in just over 15 minutes of action.
In previous games, and throughout much of the preseason, whenever Williams was unable to play due to either injury or minutes limits, Nets coach Jason Kidd usually preferred to go with Alan Anderson – a swingman by trade – as his backup point behind Livingston. But with five players sitting out Saturday night, it was a chance for Taylor to prove he deserves a shot to play in those situations.
Taylor was a little wild with the ball at times, finishing with three turnovers, but played well overall and flashed his plus athleticism on several plays. We’ll see if he gets another chance if Williams also sits out Monday against the Trail Blazers.
3. Speaking of Plumlee, he may be the youngest guy on the team in terms of service time, but he had an interesting quote when asked about the team’s performance with so many starters sidelined in Saturday’s loss.
“We’re going to rest guys, and we just can’t take [losses] every time,” Plumlee said. “People are excited about how we played, but we can’t lose every time we rest guys. I thought we played hard, but we’ve still got to find ways to come up with wins.”
It was a pretty insightful response from a young player, and one that is quite true. Given the age across the Nets’ roster, the bench will have a bigger role than on many teams because the reserves will have to carry the team on nights when the starters rest.
The bench performed well Saturday night, but as Plumlee and others said, not well enough to get the win. That will have to be different in the future.