Here are my three thoughts from the Nets’ 103-80 win over the Knicks in a Martin Luther King Day matinee Monday:
1. The Nets did their best to downplay the importance of Monday afternoon’s game against their crosstown rivals, but once you asked the players an extra question or two, their true feelings started to come out.
Multiple players called it a “payback” game. Paul Pierce said it’s “1-1 in New York City now.” However you want to say it, the idea this game didn’t mean anything to the Nets simply wasn’t believable.
And it should have meant something, just as it clearly meant something to the Knicks to blow out the Nets last month in Brooklyn. The real rivalry between these two franchises may not have fully begun until last season – when the Nets took up residence inside the city limits – but it hasn’t taken long for these two franchises to begin to properly hate each other.
There would be nothing better than for the two teams to meet in a playoff series – perhaps this season, if they can each manage to get one of the eight spots – and cement their rivalry for all times. But the dislike that’s clearly coming across in the regular-season matchups is a pretty good place to start.
2. It remains to be seen how long the “Deron Williams off the bench” experiment will last, but it will be intriguing to see how long Nets coach Jason Kidd gives it a try.
For whatever reason, the combination of Williams and Joe Johnson never has been able to quite get clicking at the same time during their one-plus seasons together in Brooklyn, and Johnson is currently on fire, scoring over 20 points five times in his last six games.
By having Williams come off the bench, it allows him the ability to try and create scoring for himself – something he’s quite good at – and by playing him with Andray Blatche, you have an excellent option for him to run the pick-and-roll with.
Going this route will allow Williams to get himself back into game shape and form without the pressure of playing with the starters, which isn’t a bad thing, and allows a starting lineup that’s playing well to keep rolling, as Williams himself said after Monday’s game.
3. Lost in the discussion of the Nets going to their small-ball lineup full-time has been the dramatic ramping up of 3-pointers made and attempted.
Over the eight games in 2014, the Nets have ranked fifth in the NBA in 3-point makes (9.4) and attempts (25.5) per game. The two most efficient shots in basketball are 3-pointers and shots at the rim. Eliminating long two-point jumpers for more 3-pointers will make for a more efficient offense, which explains why the Nets are scoring 107 points per 100 possessions over those eight games, good for eighth in the NBA this month.