Asked what he would miss in the absence of Kevin Garnett, who sat a second straight game with back spasms Monday, Nets coach Jason Kidd didn’t even blink before responding.
“His energy,” Kidd said.
Well, the Nets missed Garnett — but not in the boxscore as the Bulls countered with the ghastly sum of 28 turnovers. And they didn’t really miss the energy all that much as rookie Mason Plumlee, making his fourth start and second in a row, used his limited minutes to pour out a display of athleticism and vitality. No, the Nets didn’t forget Garnett. But for one game, a 96-80 rout of the Bulls that got them back to .500, they really didn’t miss him.
Not even all the vocal leadership stuff that all the Nets say makes Garnett, well, Garnett. Plumlee knew that and tried to hoist his energy with Garnett out.
“Yeah, you almost have to go over the top to an extent because those are big shoes to fill,” said Plumlee, who scored six points (three dunks) and grabbed four rebounds in 22 minutes. “Everybody, they hang on every word he says. He’s vocal and guys respect what he says. They might not respect me the same way so I’ve got to say it louder and more often [when] making the calls defensively.”
And it meant something that these were the Bulls who eliminated the Nets last year and beat them twice this season, including a Christmas Day rout when “we didn’t even play hard,” Plumlee said.
Even though Garnett was not on the floor, he impacted the game. Plumlee said he was a sponge for Garnett’s knowledge about playing Chicago’s Joakim Noah (10 points, six rebounds, six turnovers) at the morning workout.
“Kevin has played against him so much. Even though he didn’t play tonight he was at shootaround, kind of took me through his tendencies,” said Plumlee.
Hey, it worked.
“Mase gave us a lot of energy running the court, he set great picks, he was able to rebound and block shots,” Joe Johnson praised.
“He’s a quick learner but with his energy his athletic ability to be able to change shots rebound — he’s going to make mistakes, he’s a rookie,” said coach Jason Kid, who indicated Garnett is a day-to-day situation, one that will be reevaluated Tuesday. “He gives us that energy and guys kind of fed off that.”
Just like with Garnett, though the Nets don’t want to make a habit of it, what with the playoffs coming up and all.
“I don’t know the record without him out there but there’s been a drop-off in our defensive effort, defensive intensity,” said Deron Williams.
Not this time.
“We played without Kevin, we played with Kevin,” Andrei Kirilenko said. “We’d love to have him. I think we’ve got enough talent to beat anybody in this league even without Kevin. It’s not that we don’t need him, we need him.”