Here are my three thoughts on the Nets’ 107-106 victory over the Mavericks in Brooklyn Friday night:
1. With the way Mirza Teletovic has played recently – including his 24-point barrage in the second quarter Friday night, and his career-high total of 34 points for the game – it’s easy to forget that he was left on the bench for six of the first 11 games this season, just as he was often left to be forgotten on the bench for large chunks of last year.
That’s because Nets coach Jason Kidd, like both Avery Johnson and P.J. Carlesimo a year ago, went into the season thinking he was going to play a big lineup, and Teletovic – an undersized power forward – simply didn’t fit very well into that plan.
Even when the Nets were going through their struggles early on, the one thing that was working was the four big man rotation of Brook Lopez, Kevin Garnett, Andray Blatche and Mason Plumlee, which is why Teletovic mostly was left on the bench.
Remember, Teletovic tweeted out, “I hate liars,” after getting garbage time minutes against Orlando on Nov. 3 following being a DNP in both of the first two games of the season.
But while the big lineups the Nets were employing both last season and early on often left him on the outside looking in, there has been no player on the roster who has benefited more from the switch to the smallball lineup than Teletovic. Because of his excellent spot-up shooting touch, he’s now able to just station himself around the perimeter and wait for someone to drive, suck in the defense and kick him the ball.
Then, once he gets hot, “it seems like the ball isn’t even touching the net,” as Deron Williams put it Friday night.
2. Once again, the Nets let it fire from 3-point range Friday night, going 10-for-27 from behind the arc – and that was after opening the game 1-for-9 from deep in the first quarter.
It’s been a noticeable change ever since the Nets shifted to the smaller lineup on a full-time basis at the start of January, going from shooting less than 20 3-pointers a game through the first two months of the season to letting go more than 25 a game in January. With this small lineup now being used all the time, the Nets often have four — and sometimes even five – players capable of shooting from behind the arc at the same time deployed on the floor. Not only has that spaced the floor for more drives to the rim, but it’s also led to plenty of open looks after the ball moves around the arc until it settles in the hands of an open man.
3. The transformation in Kevin Garnett’s game over the past few weeks has been nothing short of remarkable. Through the opening two months of the season, it looked like Garnett was on his last legs, barely able to make a shot (making 36 percent of his attempts through Dec. 31), and seemingly lacking the ability to make any explosive plays.
But if you had only started watching Garnett play in January, you would think he still has several years left to play. He is averaging 8.6 points and 7.1 rebounds in January, while shooting 67.4 percent from the field in 23 minutes a night.
That’s exactly the kind of production the Nets had been hoping to get from Garnett right from the start of the season. But the value isn’t only held in his offense, as Garnett looks much more spry and active defensively, and has been a key reason for the team’s dramatic improvement at that end this month. He’s even shown more athleticism, as he proved with an emphatic turnaround dunk against Dallas.
If this version of Garnett – or something close – can remain the rest of the season, the Nets can keep up something close to their current pace.