LONDON – Here are my three thoughts on the Nets’ 127-110 win over the Hawks on Thursday:
1. The Nets’ trip to London for a rare overseas regular-season game — and the opportunity to spend a few days in one of the world’s most iconic cities — was going to be memorable regardless of the outcome of the game.
But it’s a lot easier to look back fondly on the trip if you come away with a victory – especially the kind of emphatic win the Nets picked up Thursday by torching the Hawks inside O2 Arena.
“That’s the best part of [the trip],” said Paul Pierce, who finished with 18 points and six assists in yet another impressive performance at power forward. “When you travel so far and understand that it’s definitely business, when you get the win … you know, nobody likes those long flights after a loss. Those are the toughest ones, because you’re sitting there and guys aren’t talking.
“Usually on the plane, guys are talking to each other, mingling, but after those losses, on those long flights it’s a quiet airplane. So it feels great that we’ve got such a long flight [Friday] and to get the win.”
2. Since leaving the team for four games for personal reasons, Andray Blatche has been in a bit of a funk. Heading into Thursday’s game, Blatche’s playing time has fluctuated significantly, playing less than 15 minutes in three of the five games after he returned – something that had only happened twice in his first 28 games.
But Blatche was outstanding Thursday, finishing with 20 points, 14 rebounds and six assists in 27 minutes in what was his probably his best and most well-rounded performance of the entire season.
Nets coach Jason Kidd was asked about Blatche’s diminished playing time before Thursday’s game, and chalked it up to the Nets switching to a much smaller lineup in recent weeks, as opposed to having the ability to play Blatche alongside Brook Lopez as he often did before Lopez was hurt.
But the Nets still need production from Blatche, who is an elite reserve big man. Obviously they aren’t going to get this kind of all-around production from him every night, but if he can settle into the 10 points/five rebounds/20 minutes territory he’s basically given the Nets since the beginning of last season, it would give them 48 minutes a night from Blatche and Kevin Garnett at center and allow the Nets to continue to optimize the small-ball approach they have had success with for the last couple weeks.
3. One of The Post’s three bold predictions for the Nets before the season was they would finish inside the top five in the NBA in 3-point shooting. Well, after Thursday’s blistering 16-for-27 performance from behind the arc, the Nets are now eighth in the NBA at 37.1 percent.
Since Lopez went down, the Nets are averaging about three more 3-point field goal attempts per game, a product of Kidd’s decision to downsize his lineup and play Paul Pierce and Andrei Kirilenko at power forward, as well adding minutes for 3-point marksman Mirza Teletovic.
With Lopez’s massive presence in the middle now missing for the remainder of the season, the Nets had to find other ways to win. Taking – and making – more shots from behind the arc has proved to be one of them.