For all of the things that have stood out about the dramatic turnaround the Nets have undergone since the start of 2014, none have been as noticeable as the difference in Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
The future Hall of Famers struggled at times through the opening two months of the season while the Nets dropped towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but they have been instrumental to the team’s ability to play a smallball lineup this month with Garnett moving to center and Pierce to power forward. It’s helped the Nets claim 10 wins in 12 games heading into Friday’s final game of the month at home against Oklahoma City.
The change has been most noticeable in Garnett’s game. The 37-year-old has gone from shooting 36 percent through the opening two months to shooting north of 60 percent for the month of January. While some of that could be attributed to Garnett sliding over to play center full-time, which coincided with him having an improvement in his production last season in Boston, Garnett said it’s also helped that he and Pierce are now being relied upon as primary options in the Nets’ system in the wake of Brook Lopez’s injury and with Deron Williams returning from ankle issues.
“The difference in the way we’re playing is we were thinking secondary as we come in,” Garnett said. “Then Brook [gets hurt], Deron’s been beat up, and we’ve had to be primaries now. When you’re secondary, which [we were for] the first time in our careers, you take a step back. You’re not as forceful … you don’t want to step on everybody’s toes.
“When you’re a primary, plays are being called for you … not only that but you’re touching the ball, you’re in a rhythm. Then the mentality of a primary is different. We’re thinking like primaries, we’re out here trying to be aggressive. I think guys on the team are looking for us to be that. I don’t know. I guess the mindset of coming here helping versus being it, is just a difference. We’ve come out with the competitive nature that people know us to be. We’re not asking any questions and our team is looking for us to be that. To lead with that leadership, and that’s the difference.”
Garnett’s explanation falls in line with what Nets general manager Billy King said recently when asked why the two veterans have been more effective this month.
“Well, I think the biggest thing for us has been to try to blend those guys in, and get them to blend in,” King said in an interview on Sirius/XM’s NBA channel. “[Kevin] and Paul, they were the rock and the foundation in Boston, so they came here and I think they tried to fit in.
“The last month they’ve been themselves rather than trying to fit in. That was the biggest thing was guys trying not to step on everybody’s toes, and now they all have an understanding and a good rhythm right now.”
There were plenty of moving parts through the first two months of the season as the Nets dealt with a string of injuries and ineffective play from all over the roster. The roles have become more clear as the season has progressed — and not just for the former Celtics stars.
“I think that’s for everybody,” Williams said. “That’s kind of what we went through early on. It was a new team, and a lot of guys that have been ‘the man’ on their teams, and so it’s kind of finding our roles and finding how to adjust, and we’re starting to do that.”
Even after Monday’s heartbreaking loss to the division-leading Raptors, when Williams threw the game away in the final 12 seconds, the Nets are in a far different situation from a month ago, when they opened the new year 11 games under .500.
“It’s not only helped us, but it’s helped everybody,” Pierce said of he and Garnett getting more comfortable with their surroundings. “But the biggest thing about this turnaround is we never got down on one another.
“We’ve never had the finger pointing, we’ve never put the blame on anybody but ourselves. We kept coming to work, kept staying professional because we still believed we’d turn this thing around. The thing is: When you believe and you continue to get through the tough patches, it shows how things can kind of turnaround, and that’s what you see right now.”