Here are my three thoughts on the Nets’ 95-78 loss to the Bulls on Wednesday afternoon in Brooklyn:
1. Up until this latest debacle, the Nets had done a fairly good job of keeping their issues with each other in-house. In meetings with the media, they managed to stay united, pledging their belief in one another and saying they have the talent and the time to turn things around.
But for the first time this season, that unified front appears to be breaking down. In Paul Pierce’s four-minute post-game press session, Pierce took shots at his teammates and coach Jason Kidd.
When asked about his shooting woes the past two games, Pierce blamed playing inconsistent minutes — hard to take as anything other than a shot at Kidd for continuing to play Pierce, who had played just three games as a reserve before this season, off the bench.
“When you have inconsistency in your minutes sometimes, you have some inconsistency in your play,” he said.
The quotes about his teammates were more damning, though. Pierce and Kevin Garnett were brought here to show these Nets, who were thought to lack heart and toughness after being bounced out of the playoffs by an injury-ravaged Bulls team last season, how to have the mentality of true contenders. Instead, Pierce said after Wednesday’s game he doesn’t know if people can be “taught” how to battle adversity.
“I don’t know if it can be taught,” he said. “I don’t know if you can go to the library or read a book on it or buy it at a store.”
The last thing the Nets need is for their locker room to fracture under the weight of the mounting losses. They already have enough problems; fighting among themselves will only make things worse.
2. Mirza Teletovic was one of the few bright spots in Wednesday’s poor showing, scoring 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting. But even while playing well, Teletovic showed his limitations at the other end of the floor.
When he was out there against Chicago’s imposing frontline of Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, Chicago immediately attacked Teletovic on defense (something the Bulls also seemed to do against Reggie Evans). Teletovic is simply going to have trouble handling the size of those players defensively — he picked up a couple of quick fouls Wednesday and had to go to the bench.
Teletovic’s shooting ability spaces the floor well for the Nets’ other offensive options in the wake of Brook Lopez’s injury, so he will likely remain in the starting lineup. Still, his defensive issues against bigger opponents will continue to be an issue.
3. It’s hard to overstate how dreadful the Nets’ current situation is. After a home game against Milwaukee on Friday — even in their current state, you expect them to win that one — they head into a stretch of seven of their next nine games against teams with winning records, including road games in Indiana, San Antonio and Oklahoma City and home games against the Heat and Warriors.
If the Nets play like they have of late, that stretch will bury them to the point where they won’t have a chance of recovering and making the playoffs in the pathetic Eastern Conference. One-third of the way through the season, this truly is gut-check time for the Nets if they want to salvage something of this year.